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Freddie Scappaticci, Who May Have Been British Spy ‘Stakeknife,’ Is Dead Freddie Scappaticci, Who May Have Been British Spy ‘Stakeknife,’ Is Dead
(25 days later)
He died as he lived, in a miasma of mystery carrying a whiff of violence, death and deceit.He died as he lived, in a miasma of mystery carrying a whiff of violence, death and deceit.
The only public certainty seemed to be a stubborn denial by Freddie Scappaticci that he had ever been a double agent with the code name Stakeknife — the British Army’s highest-ranking mole in the insurgent Irish Republican Army during the Northern Ireland sectarian conflict known as the Troubles.The only public certainty seemed to be a stubborn denial by Freddie Scappaticci that he had ever been a double agent with the code name Stakeknife — the British Army’s highest-ranking mole in the insurgent Irish Republican Army during the Northern Ireland sectarian conflict known as the Troubles.
Word of his demise began to emerge in recent days as many people, including President Biden, gathered in Ireland to celebrate the 25th anniversary on April 10 of the Good Friday Agreement that set Northern Ireland on course for a still imperfect peace.Word of his demise began to emerge in recent days as many people, including President Biden, gathered in Ireland to celebrate the 25th anniversary on April 10 of the Good Friday Agreement that set Northern Ireland on course for a still imperfect peace.
“We were made aware last week of the passing of Frederick Scappaticci,” Jon Boutcher, a former chief constable in the British police who is leading a protracted inquiry into the Stakeknife imbroglio, announced on April 11.“We were made aware last week of the passing of Frederick Scappaticci,” Jon Boutcher, a former chief constable in the British police who is leading a protracted inquiry into the Stakeknife imbroglio, announced on April 11.
The usual details of an obituary — the date, location and cause of death — were missing. Even Mr. Scappaticci’s age was uncertain.The usual details of an obituary — the date, location and cause of death — were missing. Even Mr. Scappaticci’s age was uncertain.
By the time his death became known, British news reports said, he had already been buried at an undisclosed location. He was in his mid-to-late 70s and had been living under a witness protection program, these reports said.
Perhaps fittingly, Mr. Scappaticci’s death conjured one of the darkest, deepest unsolved mysteries of a war, fought publicly and in the shadows, that took more than 3,000 lives in three decades of sectarian bloodletting. The conflict drew in Catholic Republicans seeking a united Ireland, Protestant loyalists fighting for continued ties to Britain, and the British authorities that control Northern Ireland.