April 22 1974
Two assassinations, the wounding of one county court judge and a firebomb attack on the home of another, and two massive explosions in main streets, in one of which a policeman and a civilian each lost a leg, marked another weekend of violence and terror in the north.
Mr James Murphy, who was in his forties, of Thompson’s Bridge, Kinglass, Kinawley, Co Fermanagh, became – officially – the 1001st victim of the disturbances since 1969 when his bullet-ridden body was found early yesterday in the forecourt of a garage on the Enniskillen-Derrylin road. Two soldiers shot dead accidentally by policemen are not included in the official casualty tally.
In Belfast on Saturday, 20-year-old James Corbett, of New Barnsley Drive, was shot twice in the head and left slumped over a ditch on the Upper Springfield Road near his home only minutes after two men drove off with him in a blue mini-van which afterwards sped city-wards.
The condition of Judge Garrett McGrath, who was shot in the neck and back when five bullets were pumped through the window of his weekend residence at Cushendall late on Saturday night, was early today said to be “fair”.
Another weekend of violence showing there was no end in sight as the grim milestone of over 1,000 fatalities was reached since the outbreak of the Troubles.
Now the Big Issue – Impeach?
Congress resumes its sitting in Washington today after a 10-day Easter recess to face one of the most critical issues in its history – the possible impeachment of President Nixon.
During the break, Congressmen sounded out their constituents on the fate of Mr Nixon. Back in the capital they now face a tentative schedule which includes a debate on impeachment about mid-June and, if impeachment is voted, a Senate trial in July.
The initial action will come on Thursday, the expiry date of a subpoena issued by the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee to Mr Nixon requiring him to hand over tape recordings of 42 Watergate-related conversations.
The White House had shown reluctance to give up the tapes on the grounds that their release would jeopardise the presidential right to deliberate with his staff in confidence.