One of the three men accused of murdering Joseff Rivas, who was stabbed outside a Paceville cafeteria last December, told police that he had personally disposed of the knife used in the fight. 

Proceedings against the three accused continued on Friday, after the case was assigned to a different magistrate when the previous one abstained from continuing to hear the compilation of evidence. 

Ilie Constantin, 31, and his cousins Ionut Iulian Tanase, 35 and Dan-Andrei Tanase, 32, are pleading not guilty to the fatal stabbing which allegedly happened during a fight that broke out with Rivas and his two companions on that December 5 afternoon.

Information gathered from the crime scene indicated that Rivas and two other men had approached the three accused who were sitting outside a cafeteria on Ross Street, corner with St George’s Road, having a drink. 

Some sort of argument, later believed to have been related to prostitution, broke out between the two groups and the situation soon escalated into a violent brawl which spilled over onto the street.

The three suspected aggressors fled the scene on foot and subsequently caught a taxi to Swieqi. 

Rivas collapsed onto the ground opposite a pastizzeria, where emergency doctors found him lying face up, with lacerations on the front side of his body and showing no signs of life. 

A police inspector later testified that the victim had been stabbed 28 times in the brawl that lasted only two minutes. 

On Friday, when proceedings continued before Magistrate Astrid May Grima an officer from the Homicide Squad testified that on the day after the incident, he accompanied Ionut to an apartment in St Julian’s, close to the site of the alleged stabbing. 

Police walked into the apartment to find a blood-spattered kitchen island, he said.

A wet and blood-stained grey suit, as well as an iPhone box were seized from the flat.

The officer also testified that Ionut had explained to police how he had personally disposed of the knife used in the fight. 

In June, Magistrate Nadine Lia, who was originally assigned the compilation of evidence, announced that she was abstaining from continuing to preside over the case because of a conflict of interest which had materialised. 

The case was duly assigned to another magistrate.

The case continues in September. 

AG lawyers Darlene Grima and Kaylie Bonett are prosecuting together with Inspectors Kurt Zahra and Brian Xuereb.

Lawyers Charmaine Cherrett, Franco Debono, Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri are defence counsel.