“The Bald Hitman’s Bloody Escape
In a chilling tale of blood, gangs, and a race across borders, the man suspected of gunning down Ross Monaghan, 43, and Eddie Lyons Jnr, 46, who were shot dead in a bar in Fuengirola on 31 May, was finally captured in Liverpool, after a high-speed, high-stakes escape that spanned three countries and just 15 hours.
Three days after the double shooting, Police Scotland said there was no intelligence to suggest the murders were linked to an ongoing gang war which has resulted in series of assaults, shootings and fire bombings across Glasgow and Edinburgh.
But on Tuesday the Spanish National Police revealed Monaghan and Lyons Jnr were targeted by a professional killer from the Daniel crime group.
See also: Merseyside man arrested after gangland killing in Fuengirola
Dubbed the “Fuengirola Pub Killer,” the man shaved his head and face to avoid capture, slipping past Spanish police as he left behind a scene that looked like something from a gangster film. His victims? Two members of Glasgow’s notorious Lyons crime clan—longtime enemies of the rival Daniels gang—who were shot dead while watching the Champions League final in a packed Irish bar on the beachfront.
“This was the work of a cold, professional killer,” said Pedro Agudo, head of Spain’s Judicial Police, at a tense press conference. “Everything was planned. Every step was calculated.”
According to investigators, the gunman had flown into Malaga from the UK specifically to carry out the hit. He entered Monaghan’s Irish Bar on the night of May 31, approached the table where his targets were seated, and opened fire with chilling precision. One victim was shot in the neck, the bullet tearing into his heart.
The second tried to flee but was chased down and gunned down inside the bar—despite the hitman’s gun jamming momentarily.
“He handled the malfunction like someone who’s done this before,” said Juan Antonio Sillero, head of Spain’s Organized Crime Unit. “He didn’t panic. He kept going. That’s rare.”
After the double execution, the killer vanished. But police were already closing in. In just four days, he was identified. In seven, he was located. His journey took him through Portugal, into Lisbon, and then, within hours, he changed locations again.
Chief Supt Agudo Novo said the alleged gunman then boarded a flight to Leeds, hoping to eventually vanish onto a tropical island hideout. But British police, acting on an international arrest warrant, grabbed him when he arrived in Liverpool before he could board his flight to paradise.
His tactics? Avoiding surveillance cameras, hopping fences into railway tunnels, altering his clothes and look at every step. “He knew where not to be seen,” Agudo said. “That kind of awareness isn’t luck. It’s experience.”
The assassin wasn’t a freelance hitman for hire, police believe. He was a foot soldier in a criminal clan, someone raised in violence, trained in silence, and deadly by design.
Now, he sits behind bars from where the Spanish authorities have requested the extradition of the suspect, 44-year-old Michael Riley, after he was arrested by Merseyside Police in the Liverpool area on Friday. Meanwhile Monaghan’s Bar has quietly erased its name from the building, as if trying to scrub away the blood-soaked memory. But the Costa del Sol remains on edge.
Detectives in Spain said they were hopeful of making more arrests, but believed the gunman had acted alone.
But could there be revenge? A new gang war?
“We’re watching closely,” police say. “This seems like a one-time job… but in this world, nothing ever stays quiet for long.”
