Killer Colin Boles at his front door last week
70-year-old victim Frederick McMahon
A twisted thug who kicked a pensioner to death over a cigarette has moved in beside close relatives of his victim.
Evil killer Colin Boles, seen this week at the Bangor home he shares with his girlfriend, has refused to offer words of apology to the family of his frail victim – 70-year-old Frederick McMahon.
Boles 29, was just 17 when he committed one of Ulster’s most grisly and senseless murders.
The drugged up thug launched a savage attack on defenceless pensioner Mr McMahon in July 2001 after the elderly man refused to give him a cigarette.
Witnesses said Boles, who was high on drink and drugs at the time, returned three times to “rain blows and kicks” on his helpless victim.
He eventually told cops he had “lost his head” after his victim refused to give him a cigarette.
Now the killer has piled further agony on the McMahon family by setting up home a few doors from his victims’ relatives.
Boles was ordered to serve a minimum of 12 years in jail for the brutal attack and that is exactly all that he served.
He was released from Maghaberry Prison in December and the thoughtless thug has moved into a plush new housing development – where a number of relatives of his victim also live.
Relatives have also been shocked to see Boles working in a key-cutting business near Belfast.
They are furious they weren’t informed that Boles was even going to be released from jail.
And they are further upset they weren’t informed that he would be moving in beside them.
Friends of the family have told the Sunday World they are “terrified” and are now considering selling up and leaving the area.
We confronted Boles on Thursday morning at his home in Upritchard Crescent but the cowardly killer had nothing to say.
When we asked him why he had moved into a house close to Mr McMahon’s family members he replied: “No comment”.
And when we asked him if he had any words of apology to the family of Russell McMahon he said, “No, I’ve got nothing to say.”
A police reconstruction of 70-year-old Frederick McMahon's crime scene
Last night a family friend said it was a “worrying time” for some relatives who live nearby.
“This has come as a massive shock to the family who have had their lives ruined already by what Colin Boles did,” said the friend.
“They were not warned by the Probation Board that he was even being released from jail – they thought 12 years was the minimum and that he’d serve more time inside.
“They certainly weren’t told that he was moving into the same housing development as them.”
The friend said the family always thought when he was finally released that he would go to live in the Whitehill estate in Bangor, which is where he had grown up.
His victim Russell McMahon was a quiet Bangor man who was enjoying his retirement when he was attacked late at night.
Mr McMahon’s murder prompted one of the biggest investigations by Bangor detectives.
In a bid to catch the killer police took the unprecedented step of releasing an appeal for information about Mr McMahon’s murder on the screen at the local cinema.
They also staged a reconstruction of the attack with a man dressed in clothes similar to Mr McMahon’s pictured in the town’s Castle Park where the attack took place.
However, it was two acquaintances of the killer who came forward and gave the information that led detectives to Colin Boles’ door.
Shortly after Boles attacked Mr McMahon in the town’s Castle Park on July 26, 2001 he spoke to two “friends’’ in a car.
Covered in blood, he claimed that he had been in a fight.
But it was during this chance meeting that Boles touched the car with one of his bloodied hands.
And in the days after the killing, the acquaintances heard of the murder of the pensioner and contacted the police.
The car they were in was removed for a detailed forensic examination.
Using the latest in hi-tech DNA testing, police were able to match a bloodstain on the car with that of his victim.
“It was the breakthrough we needed. Without that we might never have got Boles. He would still be walking the streets today,” a security source told us at the time.
Boles finally admitted to the murder after almost two years of denials.
He changed his plea to guilty just as his trial was about to start.
Detective Inspector Todd Clements said at the time: “He carried out a despicable and totally unprovoked attack. Mr McMahon had been beaten very severely.
“The consequence of Boles’ actions has been a tragedy for his victim’s family but his guilty pleas was a positive result for the rule of law.”
steven.moore@sundayworld.com