A man given life for killing his ex-girlfriend has won the chance to ask the Supreme Court to reopen his case.
Kevin Nunn, 50, of Woolpit, Suffolk, is serving a minimum 22-year jail sentence before he can be considered for parole.
He was convicted of murdering Dawn Walker, 39, whose body was found near the River Lark, close to her home in Fornham All Saints, Suffolk, in February 2005.
Nunn and his family have been fighting a long legal battle to get forensic evidence re-examined.
At a recent High Court hearing in London, his lawyers argued semen samples discovered on Ms Walker's body could not have been linked to him as he had undergone a vasectomy.
They challenged a refusal by Suffolk chief constable Simon Ash and the Crown Prosecution Service to release evidence for further analysis, arguing it could cast doubt on the safety of Nunn's conviction.
But High Court judge Sir John Thomas, sitting with Mr Justice Haddon-Cave, upheld the refusal earlier this month.
They said Nunn wanted access to material to enable the case to be re-investigated and re-examined, but ruled the time and place for investigation and examination "was the trial."
On Thursday, Sir John said he took the view Nunn's case was unarguable but was prepared to certify it raised a point of law of general public importance.
The certification opens the way for Nunn to apply to the Supreme Court justices themselves to make a final decision.
Nunn's 76-year-old father, Horace, a retired lorry driver, has so far spent £50,000 of his life savings on his son's legal battle.
Ms Walker, who worked in a printing firm, had a two-year relationship with Nunn and was found dead soon after they separated.
Prosecutors said Nunn killed Ms Walker after a row on 2 February 2005, later burning her body and leaving it near the River Lark.
At the 2006 trial in Ipswich, Nunn claimed the "real killer" was another man who had had a relationship with Ms Walker.