The son of Lino Cauchi has described for the first time how his life was impacted by the murder of his father before he was born. 

“My mother tried to raise me using photos of my father,” he wrote in an affidavit, parts of which are being published by Times of Malta with the consent of his family.

“I am a boy born without a father and my pain centred around the fact that I never knew my father,” the now 40-year-old said.

I often stop and wonder how my life would have been different had my father not been murdered- Paolo Cauchi

On February 15, 1982, Lino Cauchi left home to go to work, bidding goodbye to his wife, at the time three months pregnant with their first – and only – son, Paolo.

The accountant’s dismembered body was discovered in a well in Buskett three years later with poignant photographs from the time showing Paolo attending his father’s funeral.

The murder remains unsolved.

A report from The Times on the first anniversary of Lino Cauchi's disappearance.

Fear in the early years

In the written affidavit handed to the court during the constitutional case he and his mother opened against the government in 2020 seeking compensation from the state, Paolo described the fear surrounding his early years.

“My mother and grandfather were constantly protecting me. Back then I did not realise what was happening and why, but today I can understand why…

“I understand that my mother wanted to protect me from the outside world to ensure that what happened to my dad would not happen to me,” he said in the affidavit.

He spoke about how he remained reserved and chose not to go to university. Instead, he was self-taught in philosophy.

“I often stop and wonder how my life would have been different had my father not been murdered. We would have lived as a family and enjoyed one another as a family,” he wrote.

Stories of his father

Paolo was brought up hearing stories of his father and, as he grew older, he discovered the truth about how his father was murdered and dismembered.

The family have called on police to rekindle investigations. They want closure and justice.

Last week Lino Cauchi’s brother Joe Cauchi told Times of Malta how the family believes that there are still people alive who know what happened and urged the police to make them speak.

One of the Labour Party’s most controversial figures, Sant was a minister in the 1970s and 1980s.

He said the family believe that the murder was committed by “the people of Lorry Sant”. One of the Labour Party’s most controversial figures, Sant was a minister in the 1970s and 1980s.

People connected to Sant were among the clients of Lino Cauchi, who was among the handful of accounting practitioners in Malta in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In December 1981, days before a tense general election, Cauchi was called for a meeting at the office of the late Joe Pace, owner of the Magic Kiosk, in Sliema, when, according to court evidence, the accountant was instructed to draft various promise-of-sale agreements on the transfer of land to members of Sant’s clique.

The evidence also indicated that Cauchi had objected to what was being done and, after he had left the meeting, one of those present remarked that Cauchi was a problem.

Everyone was throwing missiles at him at a tender age- Paolo's uncle Joe Cauchi

More than three years later, on November 15, 1985, the remains of a human body were found in a shallow well in the area known as Il-Bosk, near Buskett Gardens, in Rabat. They were later identified as Lino Cauchi’s and the funeral was held on April 24, 1989.

In the interview Joe recalled how happy the couple had been when they were expecting a child, four years into their marriage. After that, life was tough for the family. Anna had to raise her son with the knowledge that his father had been brutally murdered.

“The case was so tragic that it was impossible not to speak about it 24/7. Paolo must have heard God-knows-what. Everyone was throwing missiles at him at a tender age,” he said.

Years passed and Anna and her son never forgot – they wanted answers. In 2020, they filed a court action, through their lawyers Peter and Elena Fenech, seeking compensation.

Last month, Paolo and his mother were awarded €615,000 in compensation for breach of rights after a court found that there was a grave shortcoming by the police who repeatedly failed to open a magisterial inquiry in the aftermath of Cauchi’s disappearance.