Kenya's attorney general has dropped charges against the policeman accused of killing the Irish missionary, Brother Larry Timmons, earlier this year.
The man, Mr Francis Kimanzi, has been released after the State authorities entered a nolle prose-qui in the case earlier this week.
However, according to lawyers for Brother Timmons, the way is now clear for an inquest to take place into his death. This is expected to start in January.
The lawyers had been pressing for an inquest as the best way to investigate the mysterious circumstances of Brother Timmons's death last January. But under Kenyan law this could not take place if the trial went ahead.
The Kenyan authorities came under strong pressure from the Department of Foreign Affairs and EU representatives to yield to the demand for an inquest, a procedure which allows victim's lawyers greater freedom to ask questions.
Last August, the attorney general formally notified the Franciscan order that no inquest would take place into the death. However, this position was reversed last Monday when the trial judge discharged the case and ordered an inquest. The trial can be reconvened after the inquest.
The provincial of the Franciscans in Ireland, Brother James Mungovan, said he was surprised at the latest turn of events. "But it will hopefully give us the chance to get to the bottom of what happened."
Brother Timmons was shot after robbers broke into his house in Lare, near Nakuru, in the Kenyan Highlands. The accused policeman, Mr Kimanzi, was one of four prominent local figures whom Brother Timmons had accused of corruption.
Human rights groups have consistently criticised Kenya on its human rights record, singling out the police for particular criticism.
