Today is Sunday, December 27, 2020. On this day in 1997,

on this day in 1997, Irish paramilitary leader Billy Wright was murdered in prison. Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parcast. Due to the graphic

nature of today's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of

murder that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13.

Today we're covering the assassination of loyalist Billy Wright during the Troubles in Ireland.

Our story begins at Mays Prison just outside Belfast.

Let's go back to December 27, 1997, just after breakfast.

Billy Wright waited for guards to escort him to a transport van. He was scheduled to meet his girlfriend at a visiting

area that morning and was really looking forward to it. At the time, he had no idea that within

an hour's time, he'd be faced down in a pool of his own blood. But the news wouldn't have

surprised him. Plenty of people wanted him dead.

The 37-year-old spent the past decade establishing himself as one of the most famous and

feared domestic terrorists during the Troubles. Wright was an Ulster loyalist, a Protestant who

believed that Northern Ireland should remain part of the United

Kingdom. He had committed his life to fighting against primarily Catholic groups, like the Irish

Republican Army, who pushed for a unified Ireland. Wright was allegedly responsible for

at least 20 murders, including an innocent 76-year-old woman and a woman who was seven months pregnant.

A few years earlier, a newspaper had dubbed him King Rat.

He didn't care for the nickname, so he had the paper's offices firebombed.

Wright didn't seem to feel too guilty for the blood on his hands.

As he once explained to a journalist, what do you do when you find yourself outgunned, outresourced,

outfinanced, and outnumbered by your enemy?

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