Lenny Murphy

Lenny Murphy
Murphy in 1982
Born	Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy 2 March 1952 Shankill Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died	16 November 1982 (aged 30) Forthriver Road, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Cause of death	Multiple gunshot wounds
Other names	Lenny Murphy
Known for	Leader of Shankill Butchers Ulster Volunteer Force officer

Hugh Leonard Thompson Murphy (2 March 1952 – 16 November 1982) was a Northern Irish loyalist and UVF officer. As leader of the Shankill Butchers gang, Murphy was responsible for the murders of mainly Catholic civilians, often first kidnapping and torturing his victims. Due to a lack of evidence, Murphy was never brought to trial for these killings, for which some of his followers had already received long sentences in 1979.

In the summer of 1982, Murphy was released just over half-way through a 12-year sentence for other offences. He returned to the Shankill Road, where he embarked on a murder spree. Details of his movements were passed by rival loyalist paramilitaries^[1] to the Provisional IRA, who shot Murphy dead that autumn.