Detectives working on the case of the 28year-old Latvian have sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) asking that three people be charged in connection with the murder.

Saulite was shot dead by a hired assassin as she stood at the front door of her home in Swords last 19 November. Her two young children slept in an upstairs bedroom while the murder took place.

A massive investigation into the murder was broken into two parts, with the first part now completed. Detectives believe that Saulite's husband, Hassan Hassan, arranged for two North African men to shoot his wife.

Hassan is currently serving a four-year sentence for his part in a stolen car ring.

Gardai have interviewed these two individuals and they have admitted following the young woman and taking surveillance shots of her which were then sent to Hassan's camera phone in prison.

One of the men is regarded as a petty shoplifter and agreed to carry out the contract killing but says he had no intention of going through with the hit.

He was chosen because he bragged to other criminals that he was an experienced hitman who was prepared to kill again.

The two Africans eventually informed Hassan that they would not go through with the murder. Officers believe that the 39-year-old Lebanese national then approached a senior member of the notorious DundonMcCarthy Limerick crime gang and asked them for help.

It is thought that the Limerick gang organised for a young Dublin-based criminal to carry out the killing. The second part of the investigation will focus on who actually pulled the trigger and murdered Saulite.

Sources say they are confident that there is enough evidence to charge Hassan with conspiracy to murder It is an unusual and difficult charge to prove but detectives believe they have more evidence than in the case of Catherine Nevin, who was convicted of murdering her husband even though the killer was never caught.

"Catherine Nevin was found guilty on the basis that she had previously attempted to hire men to murderer Tom Nevin. Our investigation is on a similar course to this.

Although the two men did not murder Baiba Saulite in the end, they followed her, photographed her and had agreed to kill her.

They were in ongoing contact with Hassan Hassan about the plot.

"We feel we have a good case and it is now up to the DPP. The second part of the investigation is ongoing but we are happy we are making progress, " said a source.

After his wife's murder Hassan applied for early release to look after his children and attend Saulite's funeral. Following the failed appeal court hearing, he shouted to the waiting media that he was innocent of any involvement in his wife's murder.

He said: "I, Hassan Hassan, am being blamed for my wife's murder. I am being framed. I did not kill my wife".

Gardai have interviewed Hassan Hassan on at least three occasions but he has not been able to provide them with any leads that might identify her killer and says he is very upset about her death.