The police are no nearer to discovering the motive behind the double killings that took place in a Sliema penthouse on New Year’s Day and are asking anybody with information to come forward.

The appeal was made yesterday by police Assistant Commissioner Pierre Calleja, 23 days after father of twins Duncan Zammit and Nicholas Gera were involved in a fight to their deaths with knives.

This is the first time the police have addressed the media since the two men died in such tragic and baffling circumstances. However, the press conference left many questions unanswered as the police kept mum on several details of the investigation.

Mr Calleja said investigators had so far found no links of any kind, including sexual, between the Zammit family and Mr Gera, making the search for a motive all the more difficult.

The police analysed no less than 35,000 voice calls and mobile phone messages made by Mr Zammit, his widow Claire Zammit Xuereb and Mr Gera over a nine-month span but found nothing connecting the three people.

Computers and travel patterns were also investigated, to no avail.

Mr Zammit and Mr Gera died of multiple stab wounds in the early morning of January 1 in the penthouse that belongs to the Zammit family.

Mr Calleja yesterday confirmed Mr Gera entered the penthouse after jumping onto a terrace from the roof of an adjacent apartment block.

While confirming there was no visible sign of forced entry into the penthouse – police suspect the door may not have been locked – Mr Calleja refrained from saying what Mr Gera’s movements in the apartment where.

Based on what Mrs Zammit Xuereb told the police, it appeared Mr Gera did not know the place.

Mr Calleja also refrained from saying whether Mr Gera’s fingerprints were found anywhere in the apartment but confirmed that the penthouse was not ransacked.

He confirmed the fight started in the bedroom and ended in a corridor outside the bedroom. The two knives used in the fight were taken from the kitchen.

Asked whether Mrs Zammit Xuereb’s fingerprints were on one of the knives, Mr Calleja said such matters were still being investigated.

“It could be that she acted to defend her husband,” he said, adding it was not known for how long Mr Gera was in the penthouse before the fight started.

Mrs Zammit Xuereb is the only living witness of the fight and has been interrogated three times by the police.

Mr Calleja confirmed that Mrs Zammit Xuereb’s first phone call was to her father, entrepreneur Angelo Xuereb, and some 30 seconds later she phoned emergency services.

The phone call to the emergency number lasted seven minutes and according to Mr Calleja the first people to arrive on the crime scene were the district police.

He did not want to confirm whether Mrs Zammit Xuereb talked to an injured Mr Gera while calling the emergency number, as alleged by her father.

Mr Calleja said toxicological and other forensic tests were still being processed.

The police also established that Mr Gera had visited three bars that night before ending up in the penthouse.

Mr Gera’s first stop after leaving work was Muddy Waters bar in St Julians. He left and went to another bar in the area and returned to Muddy Waters for a second time where he was involved in an argument. After being asked to leave Muddy Waters, Mr Gera went to another bar in Sliema. The police talked to the people Mr Gera had an argument with.

Mr Calleja said Mr Gera had a few drinks although this did not mean he was drunk.

The police have also found no evidence linking Mr Gera to a computer game, Assassins Creed, which Mrs Zammit Xuereb’s father had argued could have influenced the young man to do what he did.

Those who have any information relating to the case are urged to call the police on 119 or 2122 4001. All calls will be treated confidentially.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com

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