A fingerprint on the number plate of a stolen car linked to a double murder in Sliema belonged to North Macedonian bouncer Viktor Dragomanski, a court heard on Tuesday.

Court expert Joseph Mallia said he compared Dragomanski’s fingerprints with prints lifted from Locker Street house where Christian Pandolfino, 58, and his partner Ivor Maciejowski, 30, were shot dead on August 18.

He also compared Dragomanski’s fingerprints with prints from a Volkswagen Tiguan believed to have been used to carry out the murders. Mallia said he found that a print lifted from the back side of a number plate matched that of Dragomanski’s middle finger. 

Mallia was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Dragomanski, who stands charged with the murder of the two men. He also faces charges of theft, extortion, possession of a weapon during the commission of the offences, handling stolen goods, stealing a vehicle and switching its number plates with other stolen ones.

Ivor Maciejowski and Christian Pandolfino were found shot dead in their Sliema home.

Another two men - Albanian national Daniel Muka and Danish national Jesper Kristiansen - are also charged with the murder.

Muka, the first suspect arrested in Floriana one week after the murder, allegedly named his accomplices to the police. Kristiansen was the third man charged after he was extradited to Malta from Spain, where he had flown to a few days after the double murder that shocked the island. 

In a previous sitting, Magistrate Joe Mifsud heard how, when interrogated by police, Dragomanski said he had been approached on the day of the double shooting while he was out walking his dog.

Muka was in the front passenger seat of a white VW Tiguan, being driven by Kristiansen. The two, who were his friends, asked Dragomanski to take part in "a job” to earn some money. 

Dragomanski got into the car and the three drove to the scene of the crime on Sliema’s Locker Street.

According to Dragomanski’s version of events, Kristiansen drove around the block of the murder scene a number of times before stopping in Locker Street.  

Dragomanski told police that when Muka got out of the car he was holding a pistol, which the accused urged him not to use gratuitously.  Muka and Kristiansen then headed for the house while Dragomanski stayed behind in the parked car.  After shots were fired, Dragomanski said Kristiansen rushed out and called him into the house to help. There he saw the two dead bodies of Pandolfino and Maciejowski.

The magistrate had also heard how the VW Tiguan had been stolen from Nazju Ellul Street, Gżira, in September 2018.

During today’s sitting Magistrate Mifsud criticised the prosecution for not summoning all the necessary witnesses requested by the Attorney General, when reviewing the evidence compiled so far against the accused, to turn up for this sitting. 

"This is not about respect towards this court  - that will blow over. Let’s remember there are two families who want closure and that there are victims who deserve justice and the accused’s case ought to be heard within a reasonable time,” the magistrate said adding that cases ought to be closed as soon as possible “as this is what the Maltese society expects from us.”

During the sitting, IT expert Martin Bajada presented “forensic clones” of the contents retrieved from electronic devices found at the Sliema house.

Jeweller Francesco Zampa evaluated the gold items found on Muka when he was arrested by police. He will be presenting the report on Friday.

Legal aid lawyer Joe Brincat is representing the accused. Lawyer Joe Giglio appeared parte civile. 

The case continues on Friday.