Bucher discounts the claims that he was intimidated or that his judgment was impaired by political ambition.

He commends Hinterthuer and Simet for their “persistence” but says the difficulty in identifying the skeletal remains was not the only stumbling block.“All the other proof that you build your case on just isn’t there,” he says.

“I’m not afraid of sticking my neck out.… [But] ethically, we have standards that you have to go on. It’s just not there. It’s close, but it’s just not there.”