Veronica Guerin ( July 5 , 1958 - June 26 , 1996 ) was an Irish journalist who was murdered in 1996 by Irish drug dealers . Veronica Guerin ( 5 July 1958 - 26 June 1996 ) was an Irish crime reporter who was murdered on 26 June 1996 by drug lords , an event , which alongside the murder of Detective Garda Jerry McCabe three weeks earlier , helped establish the Criminal Assets Bureau .