Sliema double murder: Muka and Dragomanski to be sentenced on July 8

Daniel Muka and Victor Dragomanski will be sentenced next week, a judge decided on Monday after hearing submissions from prosecutors and defence lawyers who represented the two.

Muka and Dragomanski were found guilty last week of carrying out a botched robbery that led to the double murder of Christian Pandolfino and Ivor Maciejowski in August 2020 at their Locker Street home in Sliema.

While Muka was unanimously convicted by a jury on all counts, Dragomanski was found guilty by a 6-3 vote of theft leading to homicide. A third man involved in the crime, Jesper Kristiansen, was tried separately and is serving a 40-year jail sentence for the double murder.

Prosecutors have asked the court to sentence both Muka and Dragomanski to life imprisonment. Dragomanski’s lawyer argued that his client should receive a lesser sentence that reflects his client’s role in the crime and the 6-3 vote to convict him.

A lawyer representing the victims’ families, Joe Giglio, also asked the court to jail the two for life and also asked that they be ordered to spend time in solitary confinement.

All three men had planned the theft and played a role in it, Giglio said, adding that Kristiansen had been jailed for 40 years after pleading guilty. Muka and Dragomanski should therefore not be given anything less than life sentences, he said.

Prosecutor Maria Francesca Spiteri asked the court to come down hard on the two convicts, underlining that they had shown no remorse for what they had done.

Legal aid lawyer Josette Sultana, representing Muka, declared that she was not in any position to make submissions on his behalf, as he continued to refuse her assistance.

Defence lawyers representing Dragomanski summoned prison officials to testify about their client’s behaviour while in preventative custody.

Correctional Services Agency Chief Operations Officer Etienne Scicluna told the court that Dragomanski had initially tested positive for cocaine and opiates when he was admitted to prison but that each of the 32 subsequent drug tests he underwent came back negative.

Dragomanski was disciplined on four separate occasions while in prison but Scicluna said they all related to “minor” incidents, such as getting into a verbal argument with a prisoner or not responding when his name was called. He worked diligently and showed respect towards prison officers, Scicluna testified.

Dragomanski’s lawyer Jose Herrera told the court his client was always truthful with the police and was “furious” with Muka for having killed two innocent people. He also argued that the jurors’ verdict was contradictory, as Dragomanski was cleared of complicity in homicide but convicted of theft leading to homicide.

“There’s a contradiction in the judgement which gives rise to a basis in an appeal. Whatever the reasoning was, there is an anomaly,” Herrera insisted.

Kristiansen, he noted, had admitted to complicity in homicide and it would not be “fair and proportionate” for Dragomanski to receive a life sentence for lesser crimes.

“My client will accept the punishment and he is expecting a severe punishment. But his punishment should not be equal to that of his co-accused,” Herrera said, before quoting several cases to substantiate his arguments including a case of aggravated theft and voluntary homicide where a person was imprisoned for 20 years.

Madam Justice Natasha Galea Sciberras will deliver sentencing on July 8.

AG lawyers Maria Francesca Spiteri and Kevin Valletta prosecuted. Lawyers José Herrera and Alex Scerri Herrera assisted Dragomanski. Legal aid lawyer Josette Sultana represented Muka. Lawyers Joe Giglio and Michaela Giglio assisted the victims’ families.