A British agent at the centre of alleged security force collusion with loyalist paramilitary killers died of natural causes in Cardiff, it was revealed today.
Since Brian Nelson's death was reported in April, he has variously been said to have died in Canada, the US, England - or not to have died at all.
Nelson, who was the Ulster Defence Association's intelligence chief, was recruited by military intelligence at the height of the troubles. The former British soldier from the Shankill Road is said to have provided vital intelligence about planned killings to his handlers, some of which was ignored.
He insists he passed on information that he had compiled on Catholic lawyer Mr Patrick Finucane but that nothing was done to stop the UDA murdering him in his north Belfast home.
The announcement of his death - just days before Metropolitan Commission Sir John Stevens published his damning report on the collusion activities - was seen by some republicans as all too convenient and there were questions about whether he was really dead at all.
He was said to have died of a heart attack or massive brain haemorrhage, but independent sources confirmed that he died of lung cancer in Wales in April. The official secrecy around the double agent remains after his death.
The Belfast Telegraphreported today that Nelson had been living in Cardiff with his family under the name of Brian Thompson for the 10 years until his death. But neither the police nor the army, who handled his murky activities, wanted to confirm the name.
"We would not discuss matters of this nature," said an army spokesman at headquarters Northern Ireland in Lisburn, Co Antrim. The same response came from the PSNI and the Ministry of Defence.
Nelson's role as an army agent - he worked for the agency known as the Force Research Unit - came to light in the early 1990s, when he was jailed for 10 years on five counts of conspiracy to murder.