Governor Thorold Masefield is expected to reveal today if an inquiry will be held into the handling of the Rebecca Middleton murder case. The Governor met Premier Jennifer Smith and other Cabinet members who are part of the Governor's Council yesterday to discuss the Middleton case and other matters.

The parents of the dead Canadian schoolgirl, the United Bermuda Party, and even the lawyer of Justis Smith -- the Bermudian youth cleared of Ms Middleton's murder -- have backed calls for an inquiry into the handling of the case. The Governor has the authority to call a full public inquiry into the savage murder of the 17-year-old in July 1996.

The killing rocked tourist relations between Bermuda and Canada and resulted in only one man, Kirk Orlando Mundy, being sentenced in connection with Ms Middleton's death.

Although the Governor may call a full inquiry, there are a number of factors weighing against this which are likely to persuade him to reject this.

The principal consideration is that two of the three main players in the case -- former Attorney General Elliott Mottley and former Commissioner of Police Colin Coxall -- no longer live in Bermuda and a Board of Inquiry has no powers to compel people from overseas to give evidence. The only key player left on the Island is Khamisi Tokunbo, the Crown counsel who prosecuted the case and who will today be named as the Island's new Director of Public Prosecutions.

The Governor has the option of going for a review of the case which falls short of the full inquiry and which could concentrate on Police and prosecution procedures.

Three months after the killing, the Crown accepted Mundy's plea of guilty to being an accessory after the fact and he was jailed for five years. The plea was accepted without the knowledge of top Police officers, who were stunned by the decision, and before forensic tests were completed. DNA testing later showed that Mundy's semen was inside Ms Middleton's body when it was found at Ferry Reach on July 3 1996.

Puisne Judge Vincent Meerabux threw out the murder charge against Mr. Smith because he determined there was no case to answer, but the Appeal Court reversed the decision and ordered a re-trial. The final legal move came last Monday when the Privy Council in London -- the Island's highest court of appeal -- ruled that an acquittal was final, even if the decision is mistaken.