Kylee Guy's pleas for an inquest into the murder of her husband Scott have gone unanswered, but a coroner has confirmed Kylee is effectively pointing the finger at Ewen Macdonald.



Feilding farmer Scott Guy, 31, was gunned down at the end of his Aorangi Rd driveway in the early hours of July 8, 2010.



At a high-profile trial in Wellington last year, Macdonald, his brother-in-law, was acquitted of his murder.



In a decision released this morning, Palmerston North coroner Carla na Nagara has declined to hold an inquest into the death.



''While it is open to me to resume my inquiry, summons Mr Macdonald and compel him to give evidence, I do not consider that is a defensible exercise of my power in the circumstances of the case,'' na Nagara said.



''Mr Macdonald exercised his right not to give evidence in person at his trial.



''In my view it would undermine the integrity of the criminal trial process if I chose to compel Mr Macdonald to give evidence at a coroner's inquest convened solely to identify Mr Guy's killer.



''I note there are no other suspects who would be called.



''The purpose of summonsing him would effectively be to have an opportunity to obtain evidence he was not compelled to give in a higher court, and I do not consider this appropriate, even on a fact finding mission.''



Na Ngara said there was a risk a coroner's inquest could become a ''backstop jurisdiction'' for matters not resolved in criminal trials that would risk a blurring of the boundaries between coroner's findings of fact and findings of legal responsibility.



It would be ''disingenuous'' not to say that Macdonald was the only person over which a finding would be made, and no other witnesses were sought by lawyers acting for Kylee Guy in her request for an inquest.



''There is no cogent evidence pointing to anyone else having been involved, so the finding of fact implicitly urged is that Mr Macdonald was the person who killed Mr Guy.''



Guy's parents, Bryan and Jo, had ''no issue'' with the coroner's decision not to resume her investigation into the death.

Scott Guy's sister, Anna, said she was satisfied with the coroner's ruling.

"It's up to them to make the decision, not anyone else. I can't really argue with it. They know what they are doing," Anna Guy said.

1 of 10 KENT BLECHYNDEN/Dominion Post Ewen Macdonald was charged with murdering his brother-in-law Scott Guy. The Crown argued that he killed Guy with the farm's shotgun over tensions about the future of the family farm in Feilding. 2 of 10 Scott Guy was shot dead on the driveway of his Aorangi Rd house in Feilding on the morning of July 8, 2010. The farmer was on his way to do the milking when he was shot twice - first in the throat and then in the face and arms. 3 of 10 CRAIG SIMCOX/Dominion Post Anna Macdonald is Scott Guy's sister and Ewen Macdonald's wife. She told the court that their life had never been more perfect in the period before her brother was killed. And when her husband was arrested for the murder, she just wanted answers. 4 of 10 CRAIG SIMCOX/Dominion Post Kylee Guy, Scott Guy's widow, was pregnant with her second child when her husband was killed. She fought back tears several times during the trial, and told the court how she couldn't bring herself to spend a single night at the couple's Feilding home after the shooting. 5 of 10 KENT BLECHYNDEN/Dominion Post Defence lawyer Greg King told the court Ewen Macdonald was guilty of some "despicable" crimes against Scott Guy and he would be punished for them - but Macdonald was no murderer. "There is not simply reasonable doubt in this case, but there is an absolute abundance of it," he told the jury. 6 of 10 CRAIG SIMCOX/Dominion Post Crown prosecutor Ben Vanderkolk argued that Ewen Macdonald murdered Scott Guy against a backdrop of tensions over the future of both men at the Feilding farm. Macdonald waited at the end of Guy's driveway in the early-morning darkness and shot him, he said. Vanderkolk told the jury: "Don't be scared or frightened out of finding him guilty." 7 of 10 CHRIS SKELTON/Dominion Post Bryan Guy, Scott Guy's father, learned about his son's death during a 22-second phone call from Ewen Macdonald. In court, he admitted that he lied to police when questioned about his double-barrelled shotgun. 8 of 10 FAIRFAX NZ Simon Asplin - one of three people on the Guy family farm around the time of the murder - received a barrage of questions from defence lawyer Greg King about his behaviour. 9 of 10 MAARTEN HOLL/Dominion Post Jo Guy, Scott Guy's mother, found out something "terrible" had happened when her husband rang her on the morning of her son's death. When she arrived at the cordon, she asked Macdonald what happened. They hugged and he said: "I don't know, I don't know, I think he was shot," she told the court. 10 of 10 MAARTEN HOLL/Dominion Post Callum Boe was involved in damaging Scott Guy's home with Ewen Macdonald. One house was burnt down and another scrawled with obscene graffiti in the months leading up to Guy's death. His alibi for the murder was read out to the jury, who heard Boe had moved to Queenstown in March 2010.

"We put trust in them that they know what they're doing. They read everything and look over everything."

However, Kylee Guy's lawyer Chris Morris sought a resumption on the basis that:



* The identity of the killer had not been determined in court



* Macdonald's acquittal did not mean it was inappropriate for a coroner to establish who shot Guy, as the question of who killed him was different to whether Macdonald bore any legal responsibility for the death



* Summoning Macdonald to an inquest would be a ''valid further line of inquiry'' as the only information about his whereabouts at the time of the shooting came from interviews given to police



* It would be in the public interest to have a factual finding into Guy's death, given the extensive publicity about the case and rumours about the death, the person responsible and circumstances



* Kylee Guy feels strongly it is important she and sons, Hunter and Drover, be assured all steps were taken to determine the circumstances of the death. ''She feels at this stage this has not happened''



* It is in the interests of other suspects that a factual determination is made about the death.



Na Nagara said the high level of public interest in the case did not equate to public interest issues such as death prevention.



She also said, having considered the court transcripts and the scope of the police inquiry, all available steps had been taken into determining the circumstances of the death.



The coroner was also unconvinced that the interests of other suspects were of sufficient merit to hold an inquest.



''With respect to the present case, I am satisfied on the basis of the evidence and information available to me that there are no known suspects who reputations need to be protected by a finding of fact as to the identity of the killer,'' Na Nagara said.



She ruled Guy's death was either a ''random or opportunistic act'' or was ''related to issues firmly rooted in his private or personal life''.



Either way, holding an inquest would not allow the coroner to gather evidence to make recommendations to draw public attention to or reduce the chances of other deaths happening in similar circumstances.

Scott's father Bryan had read the coroner's report and agreed with na Ngara's decision.



"When we look at her legal responsibilities, I think she's done all she can do," Guy said.



"It's just another chapter in the whole story. We'd love to know who killed Scott, obviously, but this doesn't really answer that question and so it doesn't end it for us. It doesn't bring Scott back.



"For us it's not closure or anything. It's just part of the legal process."



Macdonald is serving a five-year prison term for crimes, including arson and vandalism of property belonging to Scott and Kylee Guy.



Macdonald's first bid for parole was unsuccessful last year and he will see the Parole Board later this year.

Police said the file into Scott Guy's murder remains open and they continued to be interested in hearing from anyone with information relevant to the case.

SCOTT GUY: Killed in 2010.