Jason Galea, who is charged with the murder of his brother-in-law Mario Camilleri - known as L-Imniehru - had blamed Mr Camilleri for falsely implicating him in a hold-up at a jewellery, a court heard today.

Mr Galea said that Mr Camilleri hated him and his family and insisted that he (Mr Galea) had nothing to do with the 2010 hold-up.

Mr Galea 41, from Birzebbugia - is one of two people charged with the murder Mr Camilleri and his 21-year-old son Mario Jr on July 17, 2013. He is also charged with the murder of taxi driver Matthew Zahra a year earlier.

He was testifying in the compilation against him where he is pleading not guilty to taking part in the hold-up on Frank Zampa jewellery shop in September 2010. Mr Zampa ended up with a graze in the face by a bullet.

Mr Galea said that, at the time of the hold-up, he was not even in Valletta as he was helping with works in a Birzebbuga shop which his daughter was opening.
He heard about the hold-up from the news. He and his wife were long-time patrons of the jewellery shop and had spent thousands there.

Mr Galea went on to add that he knew who named him to police: “It was my brother-in-law, Mario Camilleri."

He added that he had heard his sister - the wife of Mr Camilleri - shouting at her husband on the phone while he was in prison. She was telling him to leave him (Mr Galea) alone.

"She told him that if I went to prison she would stop sending him money and he would also stop receiving money from the outside" he said.

During cross-examination, Inspector Daniel Zammit asked Mr Galea why he had not made these claims at the time of his arrest. He replied: “I have been blackmailed and threatened in the past but I never reported these cases to the police because I wanted to keep the peace.”

He also challenged the inspector to prove that he was at the scene of the crime and insisted that he was not caught on the shop’s CCTV footage.

Lawyer Veronique Dalli is appearing for Jason Galea. Inspector Daniel Zammit is prosecuting.