Updated 7.30pm, adds details of second suspect

The lead suspect in the gruesome murder of a man found dead in the trunk of his car earlier this month is facing charges of attempting to murder another man two years ago. 

Sources said Elliot Paul Busuttil is being questioned by the police.

In 2020, he was charged with attempting to murder a 57-year-old Bulgarian national and steal his money in Ta’ Qali.  He had pleaded not guilty to stabbing that man.

Meanwhile, the motive for the murder of Mario Farrugia, whose body was found in Qormi earlier this month, is not yet known, but sources said they believe the case could be linked to a financial dispute between the two.  

It is understood that the victim would regularly drive the lead suspect around in the same car that his lifeless and heavily decomposed body was found dumped in. 

The lead suspect is linked to narcotics and has prior charges of assault and attempted murder along with possession with the intent to traffic cocaine, heroin and cannabis.

Police have CCTV footage and phone call data leading them to the lead suspect and others currently under arrest. 

Investigators are awaiting DNA testing on the leading suspect and another man. 

Farrugia, a 62-year-old Pembroke resident, was found dead in the boot of his car earlier this month. He was stabbed more than 40 times.  

Earlier on Thursday, the police said that four people are under arrest in connection with the murder.

Sources told Times of Malta one of the other suspects is Ramzi Abdulhafid Ib Abukem, a 42-year-old Libyan national.

Ramzi Abdulhafid Ib Abukem. File photo

In 2018, he was charged, along with another Libyan, of beating a man to death in Ħamrun.

In 2016, he was involved in the attempted murder of a group of Paceville bouncers. 

He and his associates had allegedly got into a fight with the nightclub security guard and later returned with weapons, including a Samurai sword. Abukem is out on bail.

The police said the arrests followed investigations by the CID, St Julian's police and forensics experts. The arrested persons are Maltese and foreigners.

Searches were made in properties in Attard, Msida and Mosta. One man was arrested in Attard, a man and a woman in Msida and another woman in Mosta.

Items that can have a bearing on the case were seized, the police said. 

The police have said DNA tests confirmed his identity. 

The body was so badly decomposed that investigators could not initially identify him.

Sources told Times of Malta that at least a dozen of the stab wounds on Farrugia were inflicted to the heart and lungs, indicating a frenzied attack.

The victim also had knife marks on his hands, which indicated that he was defending himself from the assault. 

He had other superficial injuries which indicated he had tried to resist his attacker. 

The police had appealed to anyone having information about the crime to phone, even anonymously, on 2122 4001 or 119.