Four years after her son was murdered at his Sliema home, a “horrible vision” still plagues his mother – the thought that the last thing he saw was the face of a killer.

Sandra Wild opened up with Times of Malta on the fourth anniversary of her son’s murder, describing August 18, 2020, as “a normal day [that] turned into a nightmare we will never recover from”.

“I have a permanent ache in my heart. A full night’s sleep is something that happened a long time ago. There is a horrible vision which plays on in my mind. It is a vision I will carry with me forever, along with the terrible sadness that the face of a murderer was the last thing my son was ever to see,” she said.

“A son who loved the beauty of what was around him and had the great gift of photographing beauty and sharing it with others. I still can’t believe this is real and that Ivor isn’t going to burst through the door with a big smile on his face.”

Ivor Piotr Maciejowski – a 30-year-old contemporary art dealer – and his partner Christian Pandolfino were murdered in their Sliema home in what investigators believe may have been a botched robbery.

Ivor and his partner Christian Pandolfino were murdered in their Sliema home on August 18, 2020. Photo: The Social Channel

Both died of gunshot wounds and were found lying on the ground in the upper and lower floors of the house.

Since then, three men have been accused of the murder and one of them – Danish national Jesper Kristiansen – agreed to plead guilty and was handed a 40-year jail sentence. But the case is far from closed.

The other two men facing murder charges – Albanian national Daniel Muka and Serbian national Viktor Dragomanski – still await trial.

“Four years on and so many court hearings and trial delays later, we are still living this nightmare,” Wild said.

A full night’s sleep is something that happened a long time ago- Sandra Wild, mother of Ivor Maciejowski

“I simply cannot tell you what our lives are like as we try to get through each day. The murders, the visions, the endless wait for positive news, they are in our minds all the time.

“We live in constant hope that we get the justice that is deserved for this heinous double murder soon. Then and only then, can we grieve properly.”

‘How we all miss him’

Wild last spoke with her son the night he was killed.

“He felt the need to ring,” she said back then. “He looked so beautiful. He was sitting on the sofa and there was this lovely haze in the room.”

She called him back later that evening, but he did not pick up, only for her other son Tom to inform her of the murder the next day.

Later, he said it was “the hardest thing” he had ever had to do.

“What happened on that night is beyond any sane human being’s comprehension,” Ivor’s mother recalled.

Sandra holding Ivor as a baby. PHOTO: Family handout

“Ivor was a very special and unique person, wise beyond his years and had a cheeky sense of humour. He and I were extremely close. How I miss him and the lovely friendship we shared. How we all miss him as he left such a big imprint in our hearts. We love him so much.”

A few months after the murder, Wild told Times of Malta that she immediately felt something terrible had happened when her son called her that day.

Four years on, the agony lingers on.

“And so, it started – an agonising journey that no family should ever have to go through. It’s not only us, Ivor’s immediate family, that are affected. It’s his whole wider family, his friends and everyone he touched with his kindness,” she said.

“It’s the same for Christian’s family too. There is so much pain in each of us and it’s only the strong bond, love and support that we give to each other that keeps us going.”