UVF man jailed for Miami Showband massacre dies

Posted By: January 20, 2015

NEWS LETTER ( Belfast). January 19, 2015

 A UVF killer who was involved in one of the most infamous attacks of the 1970s has
reportedly been found dead.

John Somerville was part of a team which carried out the massacre of Miami
Showband musicians on July 31, 1975.

 PUP man Winston Irvine said yesterday that it was his “very clear understanding”
that he had died, but added that he was a “very private person” and that he could
offer no further details.

The Irish News reported that he had lived on the Shankill, had been aged 71, and
that his body had been found last week.

 It added he was believed to have had cancer.

 He was sometimes referred to by his middle name, James, and alongside Thomas
Crozier he was handed a life sentence for his part in the botched massacre, which
also claimed the life of his brother, Wesley Somerville, and fellow UVF man Harris
Boyle.

 In all, three band members were killed and another two injured in the bomb and gun
attack.
 
 On the night of the murders, the popular group had been driving back to the
Republic following a gig in Banbridge.

Their minibus was stopped by a fake checkpoint, manned by loyalist paramilitaries.

 The book Lost Lives, which is a compendium of Troubles-related killings, states
that after the band members had disembarked there was a loud explosion from the
rear of the van, which killed two UVF men.
 
This was followed by the UVF gang opening fire on the band members, who had all
survived the blast.

 It adds: “Their apparent intention was to load the bomb into the minibus and have
it explode as it travelled south, making it seem as if the band were
bomb-carriers”.