A third suspect in the double murders of Christian Pandolfino and Ivor Maciejowski fled Malta and is now overseas, police believe.
Police said on Friday that they were in the process of applying for a European Arrest Warrant to apprehend the suspect.
The man is believed to have left Malta after the double murders on August 18 on a flight to a country within the EU’s Schengen Area.
Pandolfino and Maciejowski were killed inside their Sliema home 10 days ago, with CCTV footage showing three men enter their house and exit just four minutes later. Gold belonging to the two was missing and investigators have said they believe the murders were theft-related.
Two men have been apprehended so far -Daniel Muka and Viktor Dragomanski -with both pleading not guilty to murder and theft charges.
The police are understood to have identified the alleged culprits using CCTV and contacts within the Eastern European community in Malta.
Sources close to the investigation say it is Muka, who is already facing charges linked to a 2017 armed robbery on a jewellery store, who is believed to have pulled the trigger on the Sliema couple. Muka was arrested in a major raid on a Floriana hide-out the day before he was charged.
He has insisted that he was not the mastermind behind the crime. His lawyers have sought a psychiatric assessment of their client, saying he has undergone severe trauma.
Police sources said they are also looking into the getaway car, a VW Tiguan. An investigation has been launched into a stolen vehicle report filed by the original owner of the car, as investigators believe this may have been fraudulent and possibly linked to a narcotics racket.
What is a European Arrest Warrant?
A European Arrest Warrant is a judicial procedure intended to make it harder for a person wanted for a crime in a European Union member state to evade justice by moving country.
Through an EAW, police in one jurisdiction can apply for a person in another EU country to be arrested on their behalf, and then sent back to a country where they face prosecution or have been sentenced to jail.
The procedure is in force across all EU member states and member states cannot refuse to surrender their own nationals.