Linked to 3 gang killings

OLIVIA KILLER CONVICTED: HOW REIGN OF TERROR ENDED

- TOM PETTIFOR, NICK SOMMERLAD and HOLLIE BONE

THE gun killer of little Olivia Pratt Korbel has been linked to three unsolved gangland murders.

Thomas Cashman, 34, is facing a life sentence for shooting nine-year-old Olivia in her home in Dovecot, Liverpool, last August as he hunted down drug dealer Joseph Nee.

Cashman was said to have been hired to kill Nee by a feared international drug-trafficking cartel who suspected the latter of a jail plot to steal a consignment of their cocaine.

And the Mirror has spoken to several sources who say Cashman had been named as a suspect in three gangland murders dating back over a decade.

Like the attack on Nee, each victim was shot several times at close range by a killer with one or two handguns in residential streets near their home.

Also like the Nee attack, the gunman was dressed in black and approached the target on foot.

In some cases, the killer and victim appeared to have been known to each other, just as Cashman and Nee were.

Each of the three men killed were suspected of involvement in crime and all the cases remain unsolved.

Terrified locals thought Cashman was untouchable, but Olivia's murder was a watershed moment and within 24 hours his name was given to the police.

Det Supt Mark Baker, who led the investigation, said the killer remained in the area after the murder so he could terrorise the community.

But they had had enough.