THE POLICE ombudsman’s office is examining the original RUC investigation into the deaths of Lesley Howell and Trevor Buchanan in May 1991.
Questions remain about how detectives were duped into thinking the murdered pair had died in a suicide pact because they were devastated that their respective spouses, Colin Howell and Hazel Stewart, were having an intense affair.
Det Supt Raymond Murray, who headed the reopened investigation into the murders, has confirmed that ombudsman Al Hutchinson’s investigators are examining the case following a complaint by relatives of the victims.
He has pointed out that at the time of murders in 1991, 102 paramilitary murders were committed and the RUC’s CID “were a lot more stretched”.
“The family have made a complaint to the police ombudsman and I completely understand,” he said.
“I look to the ombudsman now to investigate and come back to us.
“There are lessons to be learned and we will learn them. Things have moved on a great deal in 20 years, and I regret the fact that...the families have had to wait 20 years.”
A file regarding Colin Howell’s second wife Kyle, who has returned to her native Florida since news of his dramatic confession to the murders was made two years ago, has already been sent to the Public Prosecution Service, and detectives which helped to bring the case to course are awaiting a response.
It is understood police ombudsman detectives will be examining how the original investigation treated several vital clues which could have pointed to murder rather than suicide.
Witnesses in the Hazel Stewart case told the court of their concerns at the time of the deaths.
Jim Flanagan, a senior figure in the Coleraine Baptist congregation, told the jury of his surprise at Howell’s reaction to the discovery of his wife’s body in a fume-filled garage alongside that of Trevor Buchanan.