for the remarkable fact that he was left alive. At first sceptical of this new attack being the work of the "Butchers", upon being apprised of the details he became convinced that McLaverty was indeed a victim of the gang. He then quickly came up with a plan that would lead to the capture and subsequent imprisonment of most of the "Butchers" gang members. He instructed police to drive a well-disguised McLaverty around the Shankill in an unmarked car in the hope that he would be able to recognise some of his assailants outside some of the pubs and drinking clubs the loyalist paramilitaries were known to frequent. This took place on 19 May, the day of local government elections which meant the Shankill Road was even more crowded than usual. Nesbitt's plan bore fruit when McLaverty identified Sam McAllister and Benjamin Edwards as his attackers. The former was easily spotted by McLaverty as he stood in a small group of men outside the "Berlin Arms", a popular UVF haunt in the Middle Shankill Road, due to his girth. McLaverty upon recognising McAllister had shouted out to the detectives in the car: "See that big fat fucker in the middle? That's one of them". A search of McAllister's home by police uncovered the knives used in the "Butchers"' killings which had been hidden under his bed beneath the floorboards. Under Nesbitt's intense questioning, the two arrested men broke down and confessed, providing more names leading to the arrest of Moore, Robert "Basher" Bates" and seven others. They were all charged and sentenced to life imprisonment. Although Murphy was named as the gang's ringleader by Moore who also added those of two others (Murphy's lieutenants, "Mr. A" and "Mr. B"), the names were later retracted out of fear of retribution from the UVF Brigade Staff. Moore had actually confessed to Nesbitt in regards to the cut-throat killings that "Murphy done the first three and I done the rest". However, as Moore had retracted his statement, there wasn't sufficient corroborative or forensic evidence for the state prosecution to charge Murphy (named in court as the "Master Butcher"), "Mr. A", or "Mr. B" with the murders. Lenny Murphy was already well known to Nesbitt as having been one of the hardest members within the UVF, as he had interviewed him a number of times on previous occasions. Following the trial which was held