Published Wednesday, 24 October 2012
Fiancee Mairead Miller attends the Inquest into the death of Kieran Doherty (© Pacemaker)
The 31-year-old was shot dead by the Real IRA. His body was found naked and bound in the Braehead Road area of Londonderry in February 2010.
An independent security service expert investigated the former republican prisoner's death and ruled out MI5 involvement, after the family raised concerns about state agents.
Police in Northern Ireland said they have no information to suggest if or when the suspect may enter the PSNI's jurisdiction.
However a senior officer told a preliminary hearing of his inquest in Belfast they are being assisted by another policing body.
Detective chief inspector Ian Harrison said: "We have the name of a suspect but he has not been in this jurisdiction for some time. Extradition would not be relevant in this case.
"I would have concerns if the inquest was to go ahead prior to the arrest of a suspect in this case then matters would be revealed in the coroner's inquest which could be detrimental to the investigation."
Senior coroner John Leckey said during decades of paramilitary violence in NI coroners would have routinely held inquests quite soon after a death and he could not remember police objecting. The chief inspector said he was not doing so.
On the night of his murder, Kieran had been in the family home at Coshowen until around 8pm. His body was later spotted by a passer-by on the Braehead Road at around 10.40pm.
Members of the Doherty family have previously claimed MI5 agents may have been involved in the events surrounding the murder, or that the organisation may have surveillance information that could help the hunt for his killers.
A report by Lord Alex Carlile, who investigated the killing, found that the intelligence agency was not involved in the death but the rest of the material wasn't given to the family.
Mr Leckey said he would write to Secretary of State Theresa Villiers seeking details of the brief given to Lord Carlile, a copy of his report and the underlying material.
A legal view from a barrister about a separate case involving the former Independent Monitoring Commission which reported on paramilitary activity has suggested the coroner will not be able to access all the confidential material.
PSNI assistant chief constable Drew Harris has Lord Carlile's report at present, detective chief inspector Harrison said.
Family barrister Fiona Doherty said: "There is a serious allegation, a serious issue in this inquest about the approaches made to the deceased, Mr Doherty, by MI5 for a continuous period of time up to his death and the family have serious concerns about that and serious concerns about the possible involvement of state agents in the death."
The family want the full contents of the Carlile report to be available to the coroner.