Police say they will reopen an investigation into one of Britain's most notorious scandals because a main suspect who was thought to have died may be alive.

It's the latest twist in the story of former Liberal Party leader Jeremy Thorpe, who was accused of plotting to kill his former lover Norman Scott.

In 1975, Scott was driven to a remote rural spot by a man who fatally shot Scott's dog.

Thorpe and three others were tried and acquitted of conspiracy to murder in 1979. Thorpe died in 2014.

New information led Gwent Police to reopen the investigation in 2015. They closed it last year after concluding alleged gunman Andrew Newton was dead.

But the force told the BBC in comments reported Saturday that "Mr. Newton may still be alive."