March 7, 2004 Murder Suspect 'On a Sick Ego Trip'
By Valerie Robinson, Irish News

Murder victim Seamus Ludlow's family accused a man quizzed by police over the killing of being on a "sick ego trip" after he boasted of having links to notorious loyalists.

Samuel Black Carroll who was among four men arrested and questioned by the RUC in 1998 about the 1976 killing of Mr Ludlow, left, has denied any connection with the murder.

However, Black Carroll, also known as 'Mambo', has boasted of his friendship with Shankhill Butcher Lenny Murphy and LVF leader Billy Wright.

Mr Ludlow's nephew Michael Donegan last night said the family had never publicly named Black Carroll as the forestry worker's killer and were bemused by his decision to go public on the matter.

"We don't know why he is going to the papers but he does seem keen to tell his story. It is possible that he is trying to prejudice any future court hearing but the family now believes that there will never be a murder trial." he said.

"It is also possible that Black Carroll is trying to boost his credibility in his own constituency.

"There are a lot of loyalist leaders dead or in prison now so maybe he thinks there's a gap and he's using my uncle's murder to boost his own reputation."

Mr Donegan said he was surprised by Black Carroll's willingness to admit his close links with loyalist leaders over the past 30 years up to the present day.

"Maybe he feels that he's lived in the shadows for so many years and now he's seeking some kind of celebrity status," he said.

"He's clearly a man with a lot of information and it's obvious that he lives a nomadic lifestyle so it's surprising that he would want to draw attention to himself."

In an interview with the Birmingham-based Sunday Mercury last weekend Black Carroll insisted that he had never participated in sectarian murders but admitted supporting some loyalist killings in Northern Ireland. He admitted links to the Red Hand Commando, the UVF, UDA, UFF and Orange Volunteers.

The loyalist also confirmed that he had been arrested in connection with the murder of Sinn Fein vice-president Maire Drumm, who was shot dead in her hospital bed in 1976.

The 50-year-old denied involvement with the Shankhill Butchers' murder spree but said he supported the killing of "known" republican activists.

Reacting to the loyalist's claims, Mr Donegan said: It seems that he is looking to be well known and is trying to levitate himself among loyalists.

"A lot of loyalists are disillusioned by what is going on in loyalism and maybe he wants to step forward and take up the mantle. We just know that the family doesn't want to read about him in the papers. We know enough about him already."

It is expected that a report on the murder will be published by former Supreme Court judge Henry Baron later this year.

A date for a new inquest into the death is still awaited.