Police close to solving other long-standing murder cases

The police are actively investigating a number of unsolved murder cases, some of which date "quite a few years back", police commissioner John Rizzo said yesterday.

Contacted following the success by the Criminal Investigations Department homicide squad, which last week unravelled a murder dating back to 1989, Mr Rizzo said that contrary to what many believed, investigations into old cases continued and files related to unsolved murders were not put away.

"Through the homicide squad, we are giving the importance due to murder cases and the inspector heading it can focus more on these cases," he said.

"We are working on several cases at the moment and we are very close in some of them. We are convinced that in most cases there were people who saw or later learnt things about each murder, but are afraid to speak. Any information the public can give us, even in confidence, is always welcome," Mr Rizzo said.

Statistics show that the police have 20 unsolved murders that have taken place since the killing of Nazzareno Ebejer, committed in April 1989. Three suspects in the Ebejer murder case were arraigned in court last Sunday.

There are another 13 unsolved murder cases dating from the 1970s, including those of the letter-bomb killing of Karen Grech, and of Lino Cauchi, whose body was cut in pieces and thrown down a well.

The most recent unsolved killing is that of the 46-year-old Gozitan lawyer Michael Grech, who was shot as he returned home on the night of May 25. It is believed that two people were involved and the police are convinced there were eyewitnesses who have not yet spoken to them.

Dr Grech was killed as he returned to his flat, situated on the third floor in St Mary's Street, Marsalforn at about 10 p.m. He parked his car in his garage under the block and then walked up to his flat. The killers were probably waiting for him on the stairs leading to the fourth floor, and as Dr Grech laid down his briefcase and was about to fish out the keys, one of them shot him in the neck.

Dr Grech, mortally wounded, ran down the stairs, with his assailants following him. The lawyer turned the corner, where he either fainted or his assailants caught up with him. He was dragged at least 50 feet into a garage where his head was smashed in with a hard object.

Another unsolved murder is that of Stephen Said, known as ix-xewka, who was killed on March 15, 2001.

The 29-year old man was killed shortly after 5 a.m. as a bomb exploded when he started his car, which was parked in Triq Patri Wistin Born.

Another is that of Joseph Formosa, of Qawra, whose lifeless body was found with 18 stab wounds on December 6, 1999. He was found dead in his Qawra flat, the first murder to take place in Qawra.

On September 29, 1990, Joseph Borg, a watchman at a pasta factory in Qormi was shot, probably in a bungled burglary. The case remains unsolved although two of the suspects have since died.

Another unsolved case is that of Mario Bonnici, a 45-year old trapper from Rabat, who was killed on November 11, 1999. Mr Bonnici was killed, probably following an argument in the early hours of the morning on his trapping site at Ta' Qali. He was killed by two shots fired from a shotgun, which hit him in the back and neck.

On November 13, 1990 Giovanna Bartolo, an 89-year-old woman, was killed in her sleep after a bomb planted on the windowsill of her bedroom exploded at Qormi. It is suspected she was not the intended victim, but the case remains unsolved.

The police have also not yet solved the first murder of a couple that took place in Malta. Antonia and Joseph Briffa, of Paola, were killed following a theft on December 12, 1990. They had been gagged and died of asphyxia. Mr Briffa was 82, Mrs Briffa 83.

Two murders that also remain unsolved carried out in a similar way were those of Victor Gauci, killed by gunshots as he returned home in Mosta on January 15, 1992 and that of Oscar Seguna, killed in a similar manner at Msida on October 1, 1992.

In October 10 that year, Martin Muscat, of Dingli, was killed by six shots fired from a pistol. His body was found at the edge of Dingli cliffs by a German tourist. The case is still unsolved.

On January 13, 1993 Vittorio Cassone was killed in his shop at San Gwann. Mr Cassone was killed with a small calibre pistol during a hold up. The police have strong suspicions about who the killer was, but so far no arraignments have been made.

Another unsolved case is the one that took place during the night of April 11, 1993, when Godwin Cutajar, of Hamrun, was killed by pistol shots after he had left his home on receiving a phone call.

The case of Maurice Seguna, a soldier who was shot while on guard duty at the Swatar computer centre in Dingli on June 13, 1993 is also believed to have been a murder that was committed by mistake, but remains unsolved.

Other unsolved murders are those of Peter Cilia, killed by shots fired from a pistol on July 7, 1993 in the limits of Salina, and that of Grezzju Cini, killed on August 9, 1994 at Attard. The man was found gagged and bound with tape under a carob tree in a field close to where he used to live at Attard.

The murder of Fathi Shqaqi, killed on October 26, 1995, in front of the Diplomat Hotel in Sliema is believed to be a hit man's job. Shqaqi was in Malta under a false name and it is suspected that his killers were foreigners who came to Malta specifically to kill him.

On August 22, 1996 Amer Ali Mohammed, a Libyan, was found stabbed to death at Tigne. The way the murder took place indicated other Arabs may have been involved.

Louis Galea, a Gozitan known as Gigi Rizzu, disappeared on November 9, 1996 and his remains were found in a well on January 9 of the following year. A bullet wound was found during the autopsy. The police are believed to have made substantial headway in this case, but so far no arraignments have been made.

On October 11, 1997 Peter Jones, of Sliema, was found dead. He had had his neck slashed and had multiple stab wounds. He was found in his house several days after he was killed and was in an advanced stage of decomposition. Mr Jones used to host Arabs in his house and the way he was killed indicated he was probably not killed by a Maltese.

Another unsolved murder is that of 83-year-old Maria Vella, of Zurrieq, who was killed on January 19, 1999 following a theft. She was found gagged and had been hit by a hard object on her head.

Another case the police are still investigating is that of Kevin Camilleri, who died in his Qormi home on June 7, 1999. Mr Camilleri was killed by a bomb that was on his window sill, but it is not clear whether the bomb was placed there by third persons or whether the bomb was of his own making.