The State Pathologist Professor John Harbison this afternoon told the inquest into the 1996 death of Raphoe cattle dealer Mr Richard Barron, that the most likely cause of his fatal head injury was a moving object, most likely a motor vehicle.
He based his conclusion on his detailed examination of the skull of the late Mr Barron, following his exhumation last July.
While Mr Barron's death was initially thought to have been a hit and run, it became a murder inquiry. This in turn resulted in the biggest investigation into the gardai in the history of the state.
Prof Harbison told Coroner John Cannon in Letterkenny that he found nine to ten scuff marks on the bone surface at the front of the deceased's skull where the skull was fractured.
His report stated that the point of impact of the force causing this fracture was one inch above the brow because the scuff marks were deepest at this point.
He added that the marks on the skull bone would not have been easily visible at the time of the injury or the original post mortem carried out by Dr David Barry in Letterkenny General Hospital in October 1996 because of overlying soft tissue.
The Inquest was shown photographs of Mr Barron's wounds taken on the day he died and photographs of the injuries to the skull taken by Prof Harbison showing the scuff marks.
Both Prof Harbison and Dr Barry had concluded that Mr Barron died as a result of laceration of his brain and fractures of his skull.
Prof Harbsion said he could not rule out the possibility that the injury to the front of Mr Barron's head could have been caused by a square section of timber.
"It was not just a straight impact without friction to scrape into the bone. The scuff marks are more or less on the top of the head and not that easy to equate with the ground," Prof Harbsion said.
With regard to Mr Barron's possible position when injured Prof Harbsion voiced the opinion that the deceased had either received another injury to partially knock him down or because of the degree of inebriation he had gone part of the way to the ground.