Skelly will not now have a service held for him in Ulster and his remains will remain exiled in Scotland. With no paramilitary trappings at his funeral in Ayr for the one-time UFF paid assassin being organised by (lone wolf) Mad Dog.
Johnny 'Mad Dog' Adair and Sam 'Skelly' McCrory
Ex-UFF paid assassin Sam 'Skelly' McCrory'funeral will now take place in Scotland on Thursday in a service free from paramilitary trappings.
The 57-year-old loyalist, who it has now emerged died from a massive heart attack during a booze binge, will then be cremated.
Some of his ashes are expected to be returned to Belfast's Shankill Road where, until the 1900s, he stalked the streets of Belfast (under cover of darkness) as a paid assassin under security force protection. Exiled former UDA leader Johnny Adair - who was McCrory's best friend - is organising the funeral.
Tracey Coulter claims to be a close friend of Skelly
Close pal Tracey Coulter (pictured above), who is travelling to Ayr for the service, confirmed the details, saying: "It will be a dignified and emotional" send-off.
A post-mortem carried out on McCrory last Tuesday confirmed he had died from a heart attack on July 24th.
After suffering the devastating cardiac arrest as he walked up concrete steps to his flat at Stonecrop Place in Ayr, the drunk fell forward and smashed his face.
DECEASED: Harry Cowan was McCrory's lover
Sam 'Skelly' McCrory
2nd Batt UFF 'C' Coy
A most recent photograph of Sam 'Skelly' McCrory
This led neighbours to speculate and wrongly assume he had been assaulted. Paramedics called to the scene found a faint pulse, but despite working on him for 20 minutes were unable to save his life.
Openly gay McCrory was exiled to Scotland in 1999 and lived with his now deceased lover Harry Cowan after he was freed early from prison under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement. He had been sentenced to 16 years in 1992 for conspiring to murder IRA leaders Martin 'Ducker' Lynch and Brian Gillen.
Prior to his arrest McCrory was one of the UDA/UFF's most profile paid assassins and was involved in six sectarian murders. Whilst protected by the British security forces.
These included the 1987 killing of west Belfast grandfather Francisco Notarantonio who was shot dead while he slept in his bed.
McCrory was also linked to the 2003 feud murders of UDA leaders John 'Grugg' Gregg and Rab Carson, who were gunned down in Belfast docks after returning from a Rangers game in Scotland.
It was because of this, and accusations of involvement in the attempted murder of UVF members on the Shankill Road in 2000, that McCrory was unable to return to the area where he grew up.
When his son Samuel Madine died last year from organ failure, aged just 34, the loyalist was unable to return to Belfast for the funeral.
According to friends the young businessman's tragic death sent McCrory into a spiral of depression and led to him drinking heavily following months of sobriety.
Tracey Coulter said Johnny Adair broke down in tears when he learned of the death of his close friend. The former UDA/UFF chief told the Sunday Life he was too upset to talk about McCrory and was trying to "process" what had happened to his lifelong pal.
Follow these links to find out more on this story: MAD DOG: DONALDSON'S 'HITMAN' TRIED TO 'TAKE ME OUT'!
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