When Lino Cauchi's remains were found inside a well in 1985, DNA analysis had barely been developed.
More than 30 years on, could modern forensic technologies be the key to solving this notorious case?
Leading forensic expert Anthony Abela Medici believes it's possible - but the courts would have to revisit the murder case first.
Speaking on the latest episode of the #TimesTalk podcast, Abela Medici says that the murder weapon could now be reexamined using new methods.
Abela Medici was one of the first people to investigate the well where the remains of Cauchi were found, three years after he disappeared.
“Even though the mallet was in water, it could potentially have traces of DNA of the person who held it in his hand,” explains Abela Medici.
The unsolved murder is back in the news, because Lino’s wife and son are seeking compensation for how the investigation was handled by both the government and police at the time.
Cauchi, who was an accountant, came home for lunch on February 15, 1982. Before going back to his office in he told his wife Anna – who was three months pregnant – about documents he was leaving in a briefcase at their home. He gave her strict instructions not to give the papers to anyone. Then Lino left, and was never seen again.
The next day, a man claiming to be from the Inland Revenue Department came to the couple’s home and asked Anna for the documents. She handed them over. Two days later the briefcase was found, forced open and empty in Chadwick Lakes.
Three years later, Cauchi’s remains were discovered by a man who was drawing water from a well to wash his car, who saw black plastic bags in the water.
Fearing for his life
Cauchi worked for an accountancy firm that had clients with links to several politicians, including Public Works Minister Lorry Sant, the only MP ever to be found involved in corruption by the Permanent Commission Against Corruption.
Evidence suggests that Cauchi was asked to draw up a number of sale agreements for land, for members of Sant’s inner circle.
It was never known what documents were stolen from his home the day after he went missing, but it is known that he increased the value of his life insurance before he was murdered.
It’s thought he began fearing for his life after his partner in the law firm died in suspicious circumstances in hospital.