The Omagh bomb suspect was the same person who made a warning telephone call about another Real IRA bomb a few weeks earlier, a voice expert told a committal hearing in Belfast Magistrates Court yesterday.
Dr Frederica Holmes examined a tape of the call warning about a bomb which exploded in Banbridge, Co Down, a few weeks before the August 1998 Omagh massacre.
She compared it to a tape of a police interview with the accused, Seán Hoey (36), and a tape of a telephone call he made while in custody.
Dr Holmes told the second day of committal proceedings against Mr Hoey, of Molley Road, Jonesborough, Armagh, that she stood by her conclusion that it was "more likely than not" that the same person was in all three recordings.
Despite repeated challenges by defence barrister Martin O'Rourke, she insisted she was happy with her conclusions.
Another voice expert, Dr Peter French, carried out similar tests on the tapes, the court heard, and had only been able to say there was an "open possibility" the recordings were the same man.
Dr Holmes told the court she respected Dr French but stood by her more positive judgment that the warning call had been made by Mr Hoey.
She said she found similarities of pitch and intonation and matches to frequency. "There was a match with the 'yes' word and a match with the 'th' sound. The 'er' hesitation in the disputed sample matched with the recording."
The independent forensic consultant rejected claims by Mr O'Rourke that the recording of the bomb call had been too poor to analyse.
"It was relatively poor but adequate. I was able to assess the recording was suitable for analysis."
The expert conceded to the court that her positive judgment that the bomb call had been made by Mr Hoey was on the lower end of the scale.
She said beyond a mid-point of no positive decision came her "more likely than not judgement". But beyond that was "fairly likely", "highly likely" and finally "a good probability bordering on certainty".
Mr Hoey has been charged with 61 terrorist and explosives offences including the murders of the 29 people killed in the Omagh bombing, which also injured hundreds more.
Gordon Kerr QC, for the Crown, has said evidence linking Mr Hoey to the Banbridge bombing - part of a major bombing campaign by the Real IRA - was part of a "multi-layered case".
He added that the electrician had been linked by DNA evidence to three terrorist explosions.
DNA and fibres experts gave evidence to the hearing that there were matches between Mr Hoey, the Omagh bomb and other bombs.
They rejected repeated defence suggestions that the results of tests carried out both in forensic science laboratories in Northern Ireland and England could be the result of cross contamination.
The prosecution and defence will make final submissions to the magistrate tomorrow.