Killer Jimmy Seales spoke to us in prison
Lisa Dorrian's body has never been found
Phillip Strickland was murdered by Seales
Killer pig-farmer Jimmy Seales could be linked to the murder of missing Bangor woman Lisa Dorrian.
The Sunday World can reveal that cops spent a week on Seales’ Comber farm two years ago looking for evidence which might lead to the discovery of the pretty 25-year-old’s missing body.
Seales is now serving a life sentence after being convicted this week of the shotgun murder 37-year-old farm labourer Strickland.
But we can also reveal Seales made millions from stealing tractors from other farmers, sometimes even using a helicopter to scour Co Down looking for plant machinery to steal.
While awaiting trial on remand in Maghaberry Prison the 56-year-old murderer told the Sunday World that cops had “dug up his farm searching for Lisa Dorrian”.
At the time of the extensive searches in October 2012 detectives would only say they were searching farmland near Comber.
For legal reasons connected to his trial we have been unable to reveal that the farmland belonged to none other than Jimmy Seales.
At the time the PSNI also said they weren’t looking for human remains – instead it was reported at the time that they were searching for a particular vehicle.
But career criminal Seales, who was already in Maghaberry Prison awaiting trial when the searches took place, told the Sunday World he thought they were looking for her body.
“They spent a whole week digging up my farm searching for Lisa Dorrian but I have no idea why,” said the convicted killer.
“It had absolutely nothing to do with me. The cops have it in for me though – that’s for sure.”
However during the same interview Seales had also told us he was not involved in the murder of Philip Strickland – for which he was convicted earlier this week.
And he revealed that the most worrying thing for him was that his 85-year-old mother would be horrified to think her son was a killer.
The 56-year-old, from Ballykeel Road Hillsborough, is believed to have gunned down Mr Strickland following comments he made on the internet about a fall-out over a cannabis factory.
The court had been told that after being shot in the leg by Seales, Mr Strickland was bundled into the boot of his own car and driven a short distance where he was shot in the face.
Two of Mr Seales’ sons, Ian and Jason Weir, Derryboye Road and Raffery Road, near Killinchy, County Down, had already pleaded guilty to murder.
Stephen McCaughey, 26, of Shackleton Walk, Newtownards, was also convicted this week of murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
Lawyers representing Seales are believed to be drawing papers for an appeal as maintains his innocence.
Lisa Dorrian was 25 years old when she disappeared in February 2005 – this Friday will mark the ninth anniversary of her disappearance.
She was last seen at a party in a caravan in Ballyhalbert and since then her family have fought a long campaign to have her body returned so they can lay her to rest.
Police have made several arrests but no-one has been charged with her murder.
There have been a series of different stories about what happened to Lisa but what does appear to be true is that she was murdered by loyalists connected to the LVF.
The Sunday World has also learned that Jimmy Seales was head of a crime gang which had amassed over £5million.
The farmer, who owns three farms, was one of the Ulster’s biggest pig farmers.
However the Sunday World can reveal Seales’ legitimate businesses were not where he made his fortune.
Instead he made millions from stealing farm machinery from farms across Co Down.
Seales was notorious along the Ards peninsula for late night thefts of tractors, JCBs and other plant machinery.
He targeted farmers in wealthy areas around Hillsborough, Killinchy, Comber and Newtownards and even travelled down as far as Kircubbin and Portaferry to steal expensive farm equipment.
One source told the Sunday World this week that the farmers across Co Down lived in fear of being robbed by Seales.
“Jimmy Seales was an out-and-out conman and thief who terrorised the local farmers,” said the source.
“He also carried the threat of violence along with his sons and they would just go round late at night stealing machinery from your farm.
“He had a helicopter which he used to look for potential targets. Some farms are very big so it was much easier for him to get a bird’s eye view of which farms had stuff worth stealing and also where on the farm they were kept.”
Last year Jimmy Seales asked the Sunday World to visit him in Maghaberry Prison.
At the time his arm was badly injured and he showed us wounds which appeared to go right down to his bone.
Although he denied it, it was claimed at an earlier court hearing that Seales had got two other inmates to deliberately inflict the wounds on him.
Police told the court they suspected Seales ‘manufactured’ an incident in which injuries were inflicted to his hands while in custody in a bid to get medical treatment.
It was claimed that CCTV evidence showed the farmer lifting a drain cover and putting his hand inside before two other inmates slammed the cover down in a crushing action.
Seales had lost several stones in weight and appeared extremely distressed, and even tearful, during our interview.
He told us he had been the victim of a terrible assault from a group of drug dealers who had battered him with iron bars and then urinated on him as he lay seriously injured.
But he was adamant he was never at the scene where Philip Strickland was shot dead.
He says injuries to his arm meant he couldn’t possibly have fired a shotgun and he claimed he had two independent experts who could find no markings on him that would be consistent with firing a shotgun.
And he told us Strickland was killed by a drug dealer he had ripped off over a £30,000 ecstasy haul.
But this week Seales was convicted of the murder and was told he will serve life in prison.