Davy Payne (1949-March 2003) was the Brigadier of the Shankill Road Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters during The Troubles.
Biography[]
Davy Payne was born in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland in 1949 to a Presbyterian Ulster Scots family, and he was one of the first members of the Ulster Defense Association when it was formed in September 1971. He became commander of the Shankill Road Brigade of the Ulster Freedom Fighters during The Troubles, and he was the UDA/UFF's most violent and feared killer. He was addicted to using knives to torture victims before killing them, and he was known for his sadism. In 1974, he took over the North and West Belfast Brigades of the UDA, and he was involved with the murder of Social Democratic and Labor Party leader Paddy Wilson and the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. After he was accused of misappropriating UDA funds, he fell out with the organization, leaving it in the mid-1970s and speaking out against Andy Tyrie and the group. He survived numerous assassination attempts and died of a heart attack in 2003 at the age of 54.