The letter bomb murder of young Karin Grech 36 years ago was recalled today with a commemoration around her monument in San Gwann, as well as Mass.

Karin Grech, 15, died as she opened a gift-wrapped parcel addressed to her father and delivered to their home on December 28, 1977. Her father, Prof Edwin Grech had returned to Malta to work at St Luke's Hospital at the height of the doctors' strike.

Karin GrechKarin Grech

Three years ago the Grech family was awarded €420,000 in compensation after a court ruled that the “cowardly” crime was a consequence of her father’s work with the government during a politically turbulent time.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in a brief address this evening said he hoped that justice would be done to the Grech family and all the victims of intolerance, including  the family of Raymond Caruana (shot in the Gudja PN club in December 1986).

The country, he said, wanted to know the truth, it wanted to know who were the masterminds and the hidden hands.

Recently-enacted legislation should make it easier for people to come forward  with information, he said.

The two killings were a blot in Malta's history. Those were episodes of the past, Dr Muscat said, and since then political tolerance had greatly improved, as had society's resolve to ensure that such sad episodes were not repeated.

Those present for the ceremony included Prof Grech, who went on to serve as Social Security Minister in the 1996 Labour government.

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