A former DUP MLA linked to the murder of nationalist politician Patsy Kelly was under suspicion of involvement within hours of the brutal killing almost 50 years ago.
Former UDR man Oliver Gibson has been repeatedly connected to the 1974 murder but was never charged.
The ex-west Tyrone DUP assembly member and Omagh district councillor died in 2018, aged 83.
It is believed he is referred to by the cipher 'UDR Member 20' in a damning Police Ombudsman's report published this week.
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Marie Anderson's report concluded that the family of Patsy Kelly “were failed” by police and found “collusive behaviour” among some officers.
Mr Kelly (35), who was also an Omagh councillor, is thought to have been killed as he returned home from work at a bar in Trillick, Co Tyrone, in the early hours of July 24, 1974.
His remains were weighed down before being thrown into Lough Eyes in Co Fermanagh. They recovered three weeks later when they floated to the surface. The father-of-five had been shot six times.
Members of the Kelly family and the wider nationalist community believe UDR members were involved in the murder.
While no-one has been convicted, several former members of the regiment have been arrested and questioned.
In her report, Ms Anderson confirms that on July 25 1974, just one day after Mr Kelly vanished, RUC Special Branch in Enniskillen reported that CID counterparts were ‘enquiring into the possibility of UDR involvement in Mr Kelly’s disappearance'.
It was added that UDR Member 20 "was a possible suspect, and that relevant military documentation for 23 July 1974, relating to him, was missing".
The report later said "there were also allegations that UDR duty sheets for the night of Mr Kelly’s abduction had been destroyed".
"My investigators found no record that police, in 1974, conducted enquiries regarding the missing duty sheets," the report added.
In the aftermath of Mr Kelly's disappearance and murder, a large number of UDR members were interviewed by police, but not under criminal caution.
A 1979 report made by a former RUC man, known as Police Officer 1, claimed UDR Member 20 had been interviewed by police and provided an alibi witness, Police Officer 11, who claimed the pair had been socialising in a bar at the time of the murder.
A re-investigation team established in 2003 later traced Police Officer 11 who said he could not recall being interviewed in 1974 "in respect of providing an alibi for UDR Member 20," the ombudsman's report said.
In August 1974, a list of names sent anonymously to the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association alleged that 11 individuals were involved in criminality, including the abduction of Mr Kelly.
UDR Member 20 and a serving RUC member, Police Officer 13, were named on the list, which is believed to have been written on the reverse of an RUC traffic form.
The ombudsman report reveals that PSNI investigators said "there was no corroborative evidence that the document ever existed".
In December 1974, Police Officer 1 submitted a further report to his authorities, regarding anonymous information that UDR Member 20 had been involved in Mr Kelly’s killing adding that the suspect was not involved in the murder.
A senior officer later said "that there was no concrete evidence linking UDR Member 20 to Mr Kelly’s murder, ‘but the rumours were rife in the Trillick area'."
The report reveals that in 1976 a person claimed in a phone call to police that UDR Member 20 and a number of other individuals had murdered Mr Kelly.
After a second call with Police Officer 1, the RUC man stated his belief that "the caller was under the influence of alcohol". Other information given by the caller was later found to be false.
Police Officer 1 concluded in his report that: "The suggestions of UDR involvement appears to be an attempt to blame someone and add fuel to a smear campaign in operation around Trillick at that time."
In her report, Ms Anderson said she was of the view "that this comment was indicative of investigative bias on the part of Police Officer 1, in relation to the potential involvement of UDR members in Mr Kelly’s murder".
Police Officer 1 has "categorically refuted that he displayed investigative bias".
The report reveals that a list of suspects was compiled and in 2004 several ex-UDR men were arrested, including UDR Member 20.
All were released without charge.
According to the report, the re-investigation concentrated on four separate scenes including where a car belonging to UDR Member 20 was found burnt out near Eskra in Co Tyrone on July 25, 1974. It had been reported stolen earlier that day.
It was previously reported that in the late 1990s, another former UDR member David Jordan, who is also deceased, broke down in a bar and admitted being present on the night Mr Kelly was killed.
The PSNI reinvestigation later confirmed that a man referred to as Person 11 in the ombudsman's report implicated two of his former colleagues, including UDR Member 20, in a drunken 'confession' to a relative.
Person 11's solicitor also stated the same confession was made to him.
In her report, Marie Anderson said police confirmed that at the time of the murder the man was not a member of the UDR adding it was established that he had "addiction and mental health issues that undermined the credibility of his confession".
The ombudsman report also revealed that RUC Special Branch and a senior officer in the area were aware of “significant intelligence” that a UVF unit was active in Fermanagh at the time of Mr Kelly’s murder.
A number of this unit’s members were “either directly linked to Mr Kelly’s murder and other terrorist attacks”.
The ombudsman also reveals that a number of security force members, including police officers, “were also linked to this unit and its activities”.
Another organisation, the Loyalist Defence Volunteers, believed to be linked to the UVF, was also active in the area and held meetings attended by UDR and RUC members.
