Thomas Oliver was a 43-year-old Irish farmer who was tortured and murdered by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in 1991, reportedly for passing information to the Garda Síochána. However, in the wake of the Stakeknife case it began to be suspected that Freddie Scappaticci – who ran the IRA's Internal Security Unit, which was responsible for torturing and killing Thomas Oliver – killed Oliver to conceal his identity as a double agent. Overview A farmer with no connections to any paramilitary group or the security forces, Oliver was a 43-year-old father of seven children, and a native of Riverstown, County Louth, on the Cooley peninsula, near Dundalk. He was abducted by armed members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) near the border on 18 July and his body was found the following day near Belleek, County Armagh. He had been shot several times in the head. The IRA, via An Phoblacht, claimed he had been passing information to the Garda Síochána. They also claimed that Oliver had aided the IRA, providing sheds to store weapons and explosives, but that over a six-year period he had given information to the Gardaí, leading to several arrests. His body showed clear evidence of massive pre-mortem trauma, indicating extensive torture. A family member stated: Thomas Oliver was survived by his wife, six daughters and a son. His mother, Annie, died in September 1991, reportedly from the shock and strain of her son's death. The Irish Times of 24 November 1991, reported: Aftermath In the wake of the Stakeknife case, where a highly placed member of the IRA was revealed to be a British double agent, it began to be suspected that Freddie Scappaticci – who ran the IRA's Internal Security Unit, which was responsible for torturing and killing Thomas Oliver – killed Oliver to conceal his identity. It emerged that, in 1989, Oliver, in the course of drainage work on his farm, unwittingly uncovered a barrel. He reported the discovery to the Gardaí but was unaware of its contents. The barrel contained IRA guns hidden on Oliver's land but without his knowledge. Two of those questioned about the arms in 1989 were County Louth natives Michael Christopher McDonald and Declan John Rafferty. Both men were at the time members of the IRA and later went on to join the Real IRA. In 2002, along with Fintan Paul O'Farrell, also a native of County