Police treat hit-and-run Gozo death as murder

The unsolved hit-and-run incident in which a 42-year-old man died in Gozo last November is being treated as a murder, Police Commissioner John Rizzo said.

"This case is being considered as a homicide by police. We can confirm that whoever committed this crime did so in a premeditated way. This was no accident," he said when contacted.

This news emerged as Mr Rizzo pointed out during the TVM programme Dissett on Tuesday that 2008 ended with six unsolved murders, and not five as originally believed, revealing that Joe Grima from Xewkija was murdered rather than having been the victim of a hit-and-run accident, as was originally thought.

The incident happened two months ago to the date when Mr Grima was involved in a tussle with a relative near the former heliport in Mġarr Road, Għajnsielem, one of the busiest thoroughfares in Gozo.

The victim was walking with his wife at about 1.30 p.m. when a 48-year-old relative emerged from a car and a fight ensued between the two men.

During the brawl, Mr Grima ended up in the middle of the road in the path of a white pick-up van which ran him over. Witnesses had said the driver of the vehicle had continued on its journey.

The victim was rushed to Gozo's hospital but he died shortly after.

Initially, the police believed the hit-and-run driver had no connection with the argument.

Asked whether the police were still ruling out any connection between the driver and the argument, Mr Rizzo said he was unable to enter into the merits of the case because investigations were ongoing.

"We have our suspicions. A lot of groundwork has been carried out, which led us to conclude that this is a murder. However, we still do not have the sort of evidence we would need to prove the case in court. We are actively investigating," he said.