A man is to stand trial for a decades-old murder after he was identified by DNA on a coffee cup, a court heard yesterday.
Francis Lanigan was extradited from the Republic to Northern Ireland in January after a six-year legal battle.
He had been living and working as a barber at a Dublin gym under an assumed name until he was located by undercover Garda detectives, the court was told.
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The 55-year-old appeared yesterday(Friday) at Belfast Crown Court to be formally arraigned on two charges he faces.
When the charge of murdering John Stephen Knocker at the Glengannon Hotel in Dungannon, Co Tyrone, on May 31, 1998, was put to him, Lanigan replied: “Not guilty.”
The accused, of Delhurst Terrace, Clonsilla, West Dublin, further denied a second charge of possessing a 9mm Browning pistol and a quantity of suitable ammunition with intent to endanger life.
A prosecutor told Mr Justice Colton ahead of the start of the trial a number of “cross-jurisdictional issues” would need to be dealt with by the court.
He added that there would also be a number of “anonymity applications” in relation to several officers from An Garda Siochana.
The prosecutor confirmed to the court a certificate from the director of the Public Prosecution Service in Northern Ireland had been signed to have the case tried without a jury. A defence barrister said the decision to have a non-jury trial in the case may be challenged at a future date.
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He said they were awaiting the outcome of a ruling on a separate case to hold a trial without a jury which is currently before the Supreme Court.
The four-week trial has been listed to start on November 4 this year.
Mr Justice Colton remanded Lanigan, originally from West Belfast, back into custody, adding that he would review the case next month.
John Knocker had travelled from the city to Dungannon to collect his girlfriend when he was shot dead outside the hotel’s Exit 15 nightclub.
During extradition proceedings in Dublin, a court heard that gardai had been aware Lanigan had been living under the assumed name of Kieran McCrory for a number of years in the capital before being arrested on foot of a European Arrest Warrant.
The court heard Lanigan had been working in the Dublin gym for 15 years and he had been identified by gardai covertly going to the building. Officers later carried out a DNA test on a coffee cup he had allegedly handled.
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