The evil Garda killer Aaron Brady raised a small fortune while on the run for the brutal murder of Detective Adrian Donohoe

Evil garda killer Aaron Brady was amassing a small fortune during his time in the race for the brutal murder of Detective Adrian Donohoe.

And a special Irish Sun investigation into the border bandit also reveals for the first time how he was so sure of evading justice that he used his own identification during his stay in the United States.

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Although Brady, 29, was under surveillance by the NYPD Intelligence Office when he fled to the United States after the murder, he was still using his own name when detained by uniformed officers.

And on one occasion he was detained, officers established that he had THREE uncashed paychecks worth nearly $ 5,000.

The discovery was part of the intelligence profile compiled by American researchers that was later presented to Gardai.

It proved the callous killer was living a comfortable life in the ‘Big Apple’ after he shot the heroic father-of-two at point-blank range on January 25, 2013, at Lordship Credit Union in Co Louth.

BRADY ‘I WAS NO CARE IN THE WORLD’

Although he had interactions with uniformed officers in the United States, he remained in the limelight of the NYPD’s ‘Office of Intelligence’.

Detective James Walsh, who is now retired after 34 years of service, was one of the officers who had Brady, now known as Prisoner Number 74326 and serving a 40-year sentence, under surveillance during his stay in the United States.

In an exclusive interview with the Irish Sun, Walsh said that money was not an issue for Brady.

He said, “Who walks around with three uncashed paychecks if they don’t have access to a large amount of cash?

“Brady lived just a few hundred yards from a bank, so he didn’t need to carry all that money.

“This piece of intelligence that we discovered showed that you didn’t have to rely on your construction job to get ahead.

“He had a good Audi, lived in a nice apartment and spent a lot of his time in bars and restaurants; money was not a problem for him.

“We had teams watching him in bars and restaurants and he didn’t give a damn, the fact that he had killed a completely innocent man in Ireland didn’t seem to faze him.”

BRADY ‘ARROGANT’ AND ‘ENJOYED A DRINK’

The retired undercover officer also recounted how his team had hatched a plot to try to befriend Brady when he was living the good life.

They formed their plan after monitoring Brady’s social media account as he was enjoying life on the other side of the Atlantic.

Undercover teams were hoping to get close to the killer after he posted that he was attending an event with former Liverpool players at an Irish bar in lower Manhattan.

But the bully abandoned his plans at the last minute to see UFC star Conor McGregor at Madison Square Garden.

Mr. Walsh added: “We bought tickets to the event in lower Manhattan, but he didn’t show up. At that stage, we had observed him quite a bit and thought we would try to get to know him.

“We knew he was someone arrogant, someone who enjoyed a drink.

“We were just going to see if he would strike up a conversation and we could try to get to know him better, gain his trust and then see if he would say something about the cowardly murder.”

“There were other times our guys approached him on the subway, but he pretended to be asleep and other times he just smiled.

“We never got to know him, but his arrogance contributed to his demise because he bragged about what a gangster he was.”

THUG ‘boasted of the carnage’

Walsh also criticized claims in Ireland that Brady was innocent.
He added: “He bragged about the murder, threatened witnesses and believed himself invincible.

“If he was innocent, why didn’t he present this evidence during the trial and why would an innocent man get people to engage in witness intimidation?

“I often wonder what was going through his mind when he pulled the trigger.

“There was absolutely no need to kill Detective Donohoe and it was such a senseless waste of life.

“The 40-year sentence he received is an appropriate punishment for a truly horrible crime.”

When he was in the crosshairs of the NYPD, Brady played Gaelic football in the Big Apple, but only associated with people from his home turf, South Armagh.

We also got exclusive footage of the bully playing Gaelic, unaware that he was being watched by the NYPD.

‘GREAT TEAM EFFORT’

And Mr. Walsh also recounted how there was a “determination” among his colleagues to help Gardai catch the brave officer’s killer.

He said: “We took this case very seriously and there was a constant flow of information about Brady’s movements. There was a great team effort in this investigation.

“Without the tireless work of the Gardai, we would not have been able to complete a Brady intelligence profile.

“His hard work gave the team everything we needed to find, identify and conduct surveillance on Brady.

“We knew that this individual had killed a police officer in Ireland and we knew that he was someone who used extreme levels of violence.”

And when he worked in the construction industry, the US authorities also had information that he was driving heavy machinery without the proper documents.

THE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES

At the time of the murder, Superintendent Gerry Curley had responsibility for the investigation under Chief Superintendent Pat Magee.

Superintendent Curley, who retired from the force two days after Brady received his life sentence, said: “This part of the investigation is over and it was important for Adrian’s wife, Caroline, her family and colleagues to see for justice to prevail.

“The investigation is now moving forward to bring to justice those who were with Brady that night.

“There has been a tremendous team effort on the part of everyone involved in the investigation over the past seven years to achieve justice for Adrian.”

Senior investigating officers included Det Supt John O’Reilly, former Det Supt George Kyne of the National Criminal Organization Office, and Senior Investigative Officers Brian Mohan, Pat Marry, and Martin Beggy.

And NBCI detectives Mark Phillips and Jim McGovern remained attached to Dundalk for the duration of the investigation.

Other Garda units involved in the seven-year investigation were Incident Room Staff, Investigation Team, Special Detective Unit, Emergency Response Unit, Garda Technical Office, CCTV viewers , the telephone liaison officers, the exhibition officers, the Armed Support Unit officers and uniformed officers.

Former Detective Inspector Pat Marry, one of the senior investigating officers in the case, is confident the other gang members will be charged.

He said: “I have no doubt that there will be other people in court in connection with this horrible crime.

“This was a thorough investigation by everyone involved and I was pleased to hear the judge’s comments reflecting the professionalism of the investigation.

“The Donohoe family thanked me for the research as well, and this meant a lot to me.”

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