The extradition to the UK of a fugitive on the run for 16 years could be put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Christopher Guest More Jr, from Warrington, has been sitting in a jail in Malta since his arrest in June following a decade-and-a-half on the run.
Plans were being discussed to hopefully jet him back to Britain in the coming months, but due to the coronavirus crisis the extradition may be now on hold.
He is currently being held in Malta after being arrested in connection with the murder of Brian Waters.
Despite a long wait, the ECHO understands More, from Lymm, could have been transported back to the UK, possibly by the early summer.
But the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic means his extradition could now be temporarily postponed.
Now 41, More is alleged to have been part of a gang who sadistically killed dad-of-two and cannabis farmer at a remote country farmhouse in 2003 during a demand for a £20,000 debt.
Three men, including former undercover BBC and Channel 4 researcher James Raven, 60, Otis Matthews, 41, and John Wilson, 69, are serving life sentences after being convicted of Mr Waters' murder.
Ringleader Raven had an array of tattoos including ones which said, "Approach with extreme caution" and "psychopath."
Over three hours, the 44-year-old victim sustained 123 injuries during the merciless assault in which he was whipped, burned with acid, attacked with a staple gun, hung upside down, and beaten at Burnt House Farm in Tabley, near Knutsford.
Prosecutors described the attack as "barbaric" and "chilling."
More, who has not been charged, left the country shortly after the incident and was also wanted for the alleged attempted murder of a second man.
Earlier this month, lawyers for the Warrington fugitive argued sending him back to Britain would be inhuman and degrading.
They cited the conditions inside HMP Manchester, where he could be held in custody, as "Dickensian" and "squalid," using a House of Commons report to support their claims.
More has not yet faced any charges for Mr Waters' murder in a UK court.
On Friday, More lost his last legal avenue in Malta to stall the extradition.
After More's capture, last summer, National Crime Agency bosses said: “We have waited a long, long time for this moment."
Today, a Cheshire Police spokeswoman told the ECHO: "We are liaising with the authorities in Malta to secure the return of Christopher Guest More Jr in accordance with European Extradition Law.”
Both TV companies, the BBC and Channel 4, were forced to defend their employment of Raven during the trial.
