The police cannot close the investigation into last year’s double stabbing unless new information emerges that will lead to someone being charged in court, according to various criminal experts.
A new piece of information could help the police make sense of something that they could have overlooked
A year after the gruesome incident – where two men died of knife wounds in a Sliema penthouse after one of them apparently entered as an intruder – the public and the families involved are still hankering for an explanation.
But hope of finding answers is dwindling because unless a third party can be charged in court, the case will have to remain open and it would be “premature and imprudent” for the police to comment, according to criminal lawyer Joe Giglio.
Speaking on the radio over the weekend, veteran forensic expert Anthony Abela Medici questioned why the police had not yet wrapped up the investigation, saying they had turned down his offer of assistance.
But Dr Giglio pointed out that murder takes 20 years to be time-barred so the case can remain open indefinitely just in case a fresh clue crops up.
“We have seen recent investigations being solved after many years because someone has spoken up, either out of remorse or guilt, or because they felt so much time had passed that nothing would happen to them,” he said.
“In this case, there might be no one to charge in court because even if one of the men was the aggressor and the other was a victim, both men are dead and you cannot have criminal proceedings against someone who is dead,” he added.
The biggest question remains: was Nicholas Gera just a random intruder or was he invited into the penthouse?
Even though the police might have a strong theory one way or the other, they would never close the investigation on that basis.
“They would always leave the investigation pending just in case something happens that dispels their original feelings or conclusions. It is difficult to come up with a conclusive statement because you would be accepting one version of events and commenting on two people who are dead and cannot disprove what you said.
“It would be premature, imprudent and rather dangerous. And you would just be taking a stand to satisfy public curiosity,” Dr Giglio said.
The only witness in the case is Claire Xuereb, the wife of Duncan Zammit, who was also in the penthouse at the time of the stabbing. She says the couple were sleeping near their twin babies when Mr Gera attacked and Mr Zammit died defending his family.
Forensics failed to establish any link between Mr Gera and either member of the Zammit Xuereb couple.
Criminologist Saviour Formosa says multiple stabbings in murder cases point at complex social relationships, and more than 20 wounds indicate intimate relationships, as evidenced by scientific articles.
“Malta has not been immune to such an occurrence as seen through the considerable number of cases where 20-plus wounds have been delivered. The fine line between love and hate hangs on a thread,” he said.
Doubts have been cast on whether the two men were able to kill each other with the knives, without the intervention of a third person.
A living third person may bring the investigation to a conclusion but former police inspector Anthony Portelli says that could take many years.
“Someone might have seen or heard something. A new piece of information could help the police make sense of something that they could have overlooked.”
“If there is something new, the police could call the woman in for questioning again, although that has to be done within her legal rights. They cannot harass her by questioning her again without good reason.”
He said police would be adamant about solving this case because murder is the worst form of crime; however, they are dependent on clues.
“There are probably about 50 unsolved homicides and if they get new information on any one, they will work on it,” he said.
The fact that Ms Xuereb’s father, Anġlu, is a well-known entrepreneur would have little impact on the case, he said, pointing out that recent cases showed police did not fear going after big fish, including judges.
But police historian Eddie Attard fears the public will never know what really happened last year.
He said police were probably accepting the theory that the two men killed each other. But even so, the case would still have to remain open pending new information.
“We still do not know what the inquiring magistrate concluded and if the conclusions tally with those of the police. But since so much time has passed, the case must be going nowhere.
“Unless someone comes forward to shed light on a possible motive, I think we will remain in the dark,” he said.
The chronology of what happened
January 1: 1am. The in-laws of Claire Zammit Xuereb and her husband and Duncan leave a small family party in their penthouse in High Street, Sliema. Mr Zammit drives his parents to their home in Tigné.
2.30am. Staff members at Shivas Indian restaurant in Paceville, including Nicholas Gera, have a small staff party to welcome the new year.
3am. Mr Gera is the last one to leave the restaurant and offers a lift to a colleague from Shivas, who lives in George Borg Olivier Street, Sliema. It is unknown whether Mr Gera went to his mother’s apartment in Blanche Huber Street where he lived but the car he was driving – lent to him by his mother – was found parked in the same street.
4.45am. Mr Gera goes to Muddy Waters bar in St Julian’s and is said to be in an angry state of mind.
5am. Mr Gera is made to leave the bar and does so without much resistance. He later called the barman to try and regain access but did not manage.
6.30am. Mr Gera and Mr Zammit’s lifeless bodies are found in a pool of blood from multiple stab wounds resulting from a knife fight in the bedroom of the High Street penthouse. Mr Gera is said to have gained access to the residence by climbing down onto the terrace from the roof. Entrepreneur Anġlu Xuereb receives a panicked call from his daughter Claire, informing him that “a man with knives had attacked them”.
7.15am. The police are informed of the double homicide and arrive on the scene a few minutes later.
January 2. The autopsies on the bodies establish the two men bled to death from their stab wounds. Mr Zammit sustained 30 knife blows while Mr Gera had more than 10. Mr Zammit’s father-in-law Anġlu Xuereb and Tanya Gera, Mr Gera’s mother, speak to timesofmalta.com expressing their shock, horror and confusion at the tragedy.
January 4. Mr Gera’s funeral is held at St Gregory’s Church in Sliema.
January 5. Claire Xuereb Zammit is questioned by inquiring Magistrate Edwina Grima.
January 7. Mr Zammit’s funeral is held at Nazzarenu Church, Sliema. Meanwhile, during a radio programme Police Commissioner John Rizzo defends a decision not to call a crime conference over the murders, saying the police had to establish the truth. He also said he preferred the families of the victims to remain silent.
January 23. Assistant Commissioner Pierre Calleja makes an appeal for help from anyone with information about the case during a crime conference. They said no link had been established between the Zammit family and Mr Gera.
February 21. Inquiring magistrate Edwina Grima and a team of forensic experts return to the penthouse at Falcon House.
June 10. Ms Zammit Xuereb breaks her silence on the early hours of New Year’s Day to see her husband, Duncan, being fatally stabbed by “a man dressed in black” in exclusive interview with the Style on Sunday magazine.
June 15. Anġlu Xuereb releases his autobiography, Angelo, which includes a final chapter on the stabbing.
Compiled by Juan Ameen.
Claire Zammit Xuereb’s account
Claire Zammit Xuereb broke her silence six months after the murder, in a magazine interview where she described how she woke up that night and found herself “in the middle of a horrific nightmare”.
She spoke of how she stirred from her sleep in the early hours of New Year’s Day to see her husband, Duncan Zammit, being fatally stabbed by “a man dressed in black”.
In June, six months after the unsolved double deaths that shocked the nation, Ms Zammit Xuereb told Style on Sunday magazine, distributed with The Sunday Times, how she saw her husband “fighting for his life”.
Ms Zammit Xuereb recounted the shock of waking up, hours after sharing happy moments with her husband and their families to usher in New Year’s Day at their Sliema penthouse.
That night both her 32-year-old husband and Nicholas Gera, 26, bled to death after sustaining multiple knife wounds to their upper bodies.
The motive behind the killing remains shrouded in mystery.
Ms Zammit Xuereb, who holds a senior position in her father’s business, became the centre of the tragedy as the only surviving witness.
Asleep next to her husband and newborn twins when the early morning incident occurred, her life changed in an instant: she lost her husband, her children lost their father and the young family’s world came crashing down.
“Duncan was not only the most caring daddy but also the most loving husband. I depended on him for everything. He was the one to cook and do the shopping and he always opted to stay in with our little ones if I had to work or run errands,” she said.
Compiled by Juan Ameen.
What Anġlu Xuereb said...
Entrepreneur Anġlu Xuereb said his son-in-law Duncan Zammit and Nicholas Gera – the two victims of Sliema’s New Year’s Day stabbings – did not know each other.
He managed to fight back trying to keep him away from the bedroom
Mobile phone and e-mail records analysed by the police did not turn up any connection, he said.
Mr Xuereb spoke about the murders several times – fewer than 24 hours after the tragedy and on various media. He had said he was “shocked” when his daughter Claire called to tell them a man with knives had attacked them.
He said his family and that of Mr Zammit were “very confused” about what might have led to the murder. He ruled out Mr Gera was ever employed with any of his companies or that there were any legal issues between the two victims.
Mr Xuereb described Duncan as a “hero for his family because he defended them from an aggressor”.
While speaking on television, Mr Xuereb gave other details such as that Mr Zammit’s body was found on Mr Gera’s and there was blood spattered all over the doors near the bedroom and the dressing room.
He also dedicated the last chapter of his autobiography, Angelo, to the tragedy, describing the love between his daughter and Mr Zammit.
He describes the incident as follows: “A 26-year-old intruder, probably after overdoing it drinking on New Year’s Eve, broke into the penthouse and made straight for the kitchen where he selected the two longest knives. Then he entered the bedroom and inflicted a deep wound on Duncan’s body.”
Pushing “the aggressor” – Mr Gera – away from the bedroom where his newborn twins slept near him and his wife, Mr Zammit managed to disarm the “intruder” of one of the knives, giving him “a fairer chance to fight for his life”.
“He somehow managed to fight back, trying hard to keep the aggressor away from the bedroom. And he succeeded, albeit dying in the process. Both died in the struggle, leaving Claire a widow and their two little angels fatherless.”
Compiled by Juan Ameen.
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