The death of five men within 14 months is raising fears of gang vendettas in Malta. Ariadne Massa looks into a phenomenon that seems to be rearing its ugly head.
Gang vendettas are more difficult to resolve and more difficult to prevent, according to police historian Eddie Attard.
“Often the mastermind will have a cast-iron alibi and he would have contracted somebody else, possibly a foreigner, to kill the target for about €5,000.
“If Sicilian, the killer would leave the island very quickly. All this makes it harder to solve,” Mr Attard said when contacted.
Referring to the murder of Paul Degabriele, 48, outside a Marsa bar on Friday, Mr Attard spoke of a similar incident at the Butterfly Bar in Birkirkara five years ago.
On April 24, 2008, two men wearing crash helmets entered the bar in broad daylight and shot Raymond Agius, a 49-year-old car dealer from Żebbuġ, then fled on a motorbike.
Often the mastermind will have a cast-iron alibi- historian Eddie Attard
To date this crime remains unsolved.
The victim of Friday’s shooting is well-known to police, and last December he was arrested in connection with the investigation into the murder of 46-year-old Joseph Cutajar, known as il-Lion, in Mill Street, Mosta.
Last October, a car bomb was placed beneath Mr Degabriele’s Toyota pick-up truck in Fgura. He was alerted and it was safely detonated.
The same pick-up was parked outside Sammy’s Bar in Marsa on Friday as Mr Degabriele, known as is-Suldat, was having a drink inside.
He had just left the bar and was sitting in his pick-up when he was hit by five bullets – three to the head and two in his upper body – fired from a 9mm semi-automatic pistol by a man in a Nissan van.
Another man sitting in Mr Degabriele’s pick-up was unhurt. He provided police with a description of the assailant which enabled police to draw up an identikit.
The main suspect is a medium to well-built white male, about 5’8” tall.
The van was later found in Ħamrun, by which time it had been torched.
Mr Attard said the murder rate in Malta was not worrying; his concern lay with the high number of killings that involved firearms.
Those who knew Mr Degabriele described him as a shady character who was “born with criminal intent in his DNA”.
He knew he was targeted and after the bomb beneath his pick-up failed to explode he took to having a ‘bodyguard’ with him.
The web of violence links Mr Degabriele to four shootouts that started in March 2012 with a night-time shootout in Marsascala [see timeline], sparking fears of feuds between gangs.
Saviour Formosa, a senior lecturer at the University’s Institute of Criminology, said gangs in Malta were not researched enough and did not exist in a formal structure that operated on hierarchy and membership.
Instead, there could be smaller groups without a formal structure that were becoming more sophisticated and ruthless.
Albert Bell, head of the University’s Department for Youth and Community Studies, agreed and said unless somebody immersed himself in the field it was extremely hard to study the phenomenon of gangs.
Dr Bell, who has studied youth subcultures, had a hunch these retributions were related to profiteering, mostly connected with areas such as drugs and prostitution.
Timeline of violence
March 15, 2012
A night-time shootout in a Marsascala apartment block garage leaves Kevin Gatt dead and Stephen Zammit seriously wounded.
Mr Gatt, 32, from Għaxaq, who had a history of theft and drug-related crimes, was found dead in a stolen Hyundai Accent, alongside Mr Zammit, 32, from Fgura. Both men were wearing gloves.
A third man, Joseph Cutajar, who was slightly injured, directed the police to the car, saying the men shot at him first while he was in his white BMW.
March 17, 2012
The same man, Joseph (Ġużeppi) Cutajar, known as il-Lion, is charged with the murder of Mr Gatt and the attempted murder of Mr Zammit.
The 45-year-old from Marsascala, who pleaded not guilty, was also charged with stealing a weapon and ammunition from a residence in Żejtun in 2010.
April 11, 2012
Mr Zammit dies in hospital. Mr Cutajar is subsequently accused of his murder. He is later released on bail.
October 2, 2012
A homemade bomb containing a kilo of explosive material is found under the Toyota pick-up of Paul Degabriele near his Fgura flat. CCTV footage shows two hooded men near the vehicle.
December 12, 2012
Mr Cutajar is found shot dead in Mosta at 8.30am, a few hours after another man, Josef Grech, 41, from Balzan, il-Yo Yo, is found dead with a shot in the head in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq.
Mr Grech was due to face a trial in April over his alleged involvement in the murder of a 55-year-old woman, Patricia Attard, who was shot dead at Ta’ Qali on February 13, 2004.
December 13, 2012
Mr Degabriele, the target of October’s car bomb, is arrested in connection with Mr Cutajar’s murder. An unnamed second suspect is arrested the following day. Both are released without charge.
May 31, 2013
Mr Degabriele is shot dead in Marsa. Several shots are fired from a 9mm semi-automatic pistol. His assailants were in a stolen white van.