Gardai investigating the murder of the Newry businessman, Mr Richard McFerran, will know this week whether the bullet that killed him came from the same gun that was used in another attempt on his life last year.
Hospital staff who treated him after the first attack retrieved the bullet that had lodged in his arm. He was fired at by one of two gunmen who called to him at his business premises in Newry, Co Down, in October 1998.
Gardai hope that ballistic tests will establish if the bullet that killed him in Dundalk, Co Louth, last week came from the same gun.
Gardai in Dundalk and the RUC have co-operated over the first incident.
Sources say the RUC investigation last year concluded the incident was related to a domestic situation.
