State prosecutors said Tuesday that they have dismissed a murder case against a Canadian man who had been held five months in a Maine jail on charges stemming from a 1992 slaying.

Clifford Solomon, 55, of the Tobique Indian reservation in Perth-Andover, New Brunswick, was released from the Aroostook County Jail in Houlton, where he had been held since October.

The case was dismissed after key witnesses refused to cooperate with state officials, said David Lauren, a special assistant to Attorney General Andrew Ketterer.

Solomon was accused of killing Anthony Bear, 50, who was from the same reservation across the border from northern Maine. Bear’s partially decomposed body was found by a bird hunter in October 1992 in Fort Fairfield. Bear had last been seen alive in August 1992.

An autopsy showed Bear died of a head injury, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the state police. Investigators had declined to say what may have led to the killing.

Solomon was arrested on a murder charge in the parking lot of a Caribou restaurant in October and was later indicted. He remained in jail until Monday.

Lauren said some key witnesses in the case recanted earlier statements and refused to come to Maine to testify. Some said they had no memory of statements they had given to investigators, even after they were shown copies of statements they had signed, said Lauren.

But because they are Canadians, “they are under no legal obligation to come (to Maine) and testify, ” said Lauren.

Even though the case has been dismissed, the state can seek a new indictment if new evidence develops, said Lauren.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had cooperated with Maine officials in the investigation, he said.