An investigative journalist believes new documents relating to the killing of Fr. Niall Molloy could have led to a conviction.
The popular Roscommon priest was killed following a struggle in the bedroom of his friend Therése Flynn in Clara, County Offaly.
Her husband, Richard, was cleared of manslaughter in 1986 on the direction of Judge Frank Roe to the jury.
However, RTE's Paul Murphy says an unearthed 14 page account from Richard Flynn reveals a possible motive for the killing.
He says the Offaly businessman admitted in the document of a resentment towards Fr. Molloy due to his close relationship with his wife and that he butted the priest into the face several times with his head.
Speaking on the Joe Finnegan Show Paul believes that if this information been available at the time it may have led to a guilty verdict.
''Richard Flynn had these documents or are in Richard Flynn's own words as author directly by him, so it gives his perspective on the events and one is that he refers to an infatuation that his wife had with Father Molloy. The fact that they didn't really have a relationship, a proper marriage from the late 1960s. We gave the documents to Niamh McGuire who is a senior law lecturer and came to the conclusion that if they had been available it would have grounded a conviction.''
