Updated 7:26pm

Kurt Grech and his father Joseph have been found guilty of the murder of Brandon Pace in 2017.

Pace died at the age of 21 when he was stabbed several times at the entrance of his apartment in Giovanni Barbara Street, Ħamrun, in April 2017.

Kurt Grech, 31, known as in-Nemes, and his father Joseph Grech, 61, both from Pieta, stood in the dock, as the jury read its verdict on Monday after almost eight hours of deliberation.

Six jurors returned with a guilty verdict, while three voted not guilty.

The sentencing will be next Monday, March 10.

The two faced charges of wilful homicide, unlawful possession of knives, breaching public peace and good order and threatening the victim’s mother Lisa Pace and partner Jessica Bilocca.

Kurt Grech was further charged with grievously injuring Bilocca using a knife while his father was also charged with having threatened the victim’s sister, Donna Pace, with a knife during the fight.

Both had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict for the unlawful possession of knives. They also returned a unanimous guilty verdict for Kurt Grech for breaching the public peace.

Kurt Grech was also unanimously found guilty of threatening Lisa Pace and Jessica Bilocca, while his father was found guilty of the same crime by six votes to three. 

A unanimous guilty verdict was also read out for Kurt Grech on the charge of slightly injuring Bilocca.

Joseph Grech was found not guilty of threatening Donna Pace, the victim's sister.

Forensic police attending the scene in 2017. File photo: Steve Zammit Lupi.

Long-standing feud

The accused were involved in a long-standing feud with Pace, which eventually boiled over into violence following an argument about the treatment of Kurt Grech's son, whose mother - Grech's former partner - had entered into a relationship with Pace. 

Grech told police that Pace had been mistreating his infant son.

During the compilation of evidence in 2017, the victim's sister Donna Pace said she had been passing her brother's residence on the evening of the murder when she saw him, his partner and his mother involved in an argument with the Grechs.

She said the two families had been exchanging insults, with tiles hurled from the balcony of her family's residence.

Kurt Grech went round to Pace’s home, and his parents arrived shortly afterwards, with Pace running out of his apartment bare-chested and barefoot to face his aggressors.

A fight began involving Pace, Kurt Grech, his parents and Bilocca. Both Kurt Grech and Pace had knives.

Witnesses said they saw Pace fall to the ground and Kurt Grech jumped on him.

'They killed him'

Last month, Pace’s mother recalled how she saw Joseph Grech stab her son in the back and she screamed, “they killed him, they killed him”. She said Joseph Grech had replied, “Let him die”.

In an earlier sitting, the jury heard that Kurt Pace had told the police he stabbed Pace but insisted that it was the victim who stabbed him first in the chest.

The site of the murder in 2017. File photo.

Under cross-examination, Donna Pace admitted she had rushed to her car intending to run over her brother's aggressors, but that the Grechs had already fled the scene.

Last week, the defence counsel insisted that Kurt Grech grabbed two knives from his home before heading to Ħamrun, not with the intent to kill anyone, but because he knew Pace was dangerous.

Lawyer Edward Gatt painted a scenario of a man who was desperate to protect his young son from the bad influence he was being exposed to. 

A point of contention had arisen during the case regarding whether the victim had also been armed when he entered the fray. His sister insisted under oath that Brandon Pace had not been in possession of a knife when he rushed downstairs. However, she had glimpsed a knife in his hand at some point of the fight.

During a previous sitting, it emerged that both the father and son had told the police about the “trouble” Kurt Grech faced with Bilocca. 

Both recalled how Bilocca punched Kurt Grech with a knuckle duster. Another time, Bilocca had posted a picture of her ex-partner on social media with a threatening message. Pace had commented, “I’ll sort him out”, on the post. 

The police heard how Kurt Grech never filed a police report out of fear it would escalate the situation between him and Bilocca. 

Lawyers Roberto Montalto, Katheleen Grima and Edward Gatt were defence counsel while lawyers Rachel Tua and Ishmael Psaila represented the victim’s family.

Lawyers Kevin Valletta and Kaylie Bonett, from the Attorney General’s office, prosecuted.