A NOTORIOUS GANG leader and murder suspect has died in a hospital in Wales after a long illness.

Cornelius Price, 41, who gardaí believe was one of the leaders of a group involved in the Drogheda feud died this weekend.

He was being treated for a medical condition that caused swelling in the brain – he was diagnosed in 2021. 

Price was chief suspect in the murder of couple Willie Maughan and Ana Varslavane as well as a number of other killings in recent years.

In an other killing he was suspected of murdering Benny Whitehouse in November, 2014 – this was related to a dispute over the sale and supply of drugs in County Louth and the general north east of the country. 

It was this murder that main have been the cause of Maughan’s and Varslavane’s killings as it is believed they knew details about the Whitehouse shooting. 

His involvement in the Drogheda feud saw him identified by gardaí as one of the main players in the violence erupting in the town also centred around the drugs trade. 

Four people have been killed in that bloodletting including teenager Keane Mulready Woods – well known hitman Robbie Lawlor was chief suspect while a number of men have been sentenced for their part in the killing. 

The feud was one of the most dangerous in recent years with at least four murders and a catalogue of criminal damage incidents, shootings and assaults spanning locations from North County Dublin into the town of Drogheda. 

It necessitated a massive garda crackdown with Operation Stratus launched in 2018 arresting more than 100 people from both sides.

Arguably the murder of Lawlor in Belfast was a defining moment in that gangland dispute with Price releasing a video on social media showing him toasting the murder of the Dublin hitman. 

Price was due to stand trial on various charges in the UK, including kidnapping and blackmail, but was deemed to be too ill to go to court.