A man accused of murdering two men who were shot in his Marsascala garage last month was yesterday denied bail after a court ruled it needed to hear more evidence.

Magistrate Tonio Micallef Trigona turned down the request for bail filed by Giuseppe Cutajar, 45, of Marsascala, who is charged with the murders of Kevin Gatt and Stephen Zammit, both 32.

Mr Cutajar had originally been charged with the murder of Mr Gatt alone as Mr Zammit was critically injured in hospital for several weeks after the shooting on March 15.

After Mr Zammit later succumbed to his injuries on April 11, Mr Cutajar was charged with his murder too.

The magistrate said that in light of this development, he felt he had to hear more evidence before releasing Mr Cutajar on bail.

The last sitting in the compilation of evidence took place before the second murder charge against Mr Cutajar was added.

During that sitting, Mr Justice Micallef Trigona had heard Police Inspector James Grech explain the shooting took place in the underground garage of an apartment block in Ġużeppi Lanzon Street, Marsascala, where Mr Cutajar claimed the two victims had tried to kill him.

The inspector said when the police arrived on the scene of the crime, they found Mr Gatt dead in the driver’s seat of a Hyundai.

Mr Zammit was kneeling down with his back to the dashboard and his face resting on Mr Gatt.

The officer asked him for his name and Mr Zammit responded, adding he was in a lot of pain and felt paralysed. He was then taken away by the ambulance crew.

Mr Grech said he spoke to the accused at the police headquarters in Floriana where, in a statement, he explained he had returned home in his BMW and drove into the garage.

The Hyundai drove into the garage, pulled up alongside him and shots were fired.

Mr Cutajar said he eventually remembered he had a gun hidden in the ventilation system, fetched the weapon and fired at the car.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi represented the accused.

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