The man accused of murdering Sylvester Farrugia in Marsa on February 12 allegedly panicked when he saw two men approach the front door of his residence, in the dead of the night, one of them cradling an object which the accused believed might have been a bomb.

Deniro Magri, smartly dressed and head bent, listened as chief prosecutor Keith Arnaud explained how the accused had allegedly been gripped by panic when at 2.30am on the day of the murder, he had caught sight, on the monitor of his security camera, of two men approaching his house.

READ: Man murdered in Marsa, suspect arraigned

He looked out of the kitchen window and shouted 'Oi! Oh! Who's there?" He then grabbed his weapon and fired out of the window without even taking aim, just as the two men were running towards a getaway car, reportedly driven by a third party.

Asked whether the accused was accustomed to handling firearms, the prosecution confirmed that the man had no weapons licence. Indeed, the man allegedly had no idea whether he had hit anyone and was rather disbelieving when he learnt from the news, later in the day, that a man had been found dead in Marsa.

Questioned by the defence, Inspector Arnaud explained how the whole episode had allegedly occurred " in a couple of seconds." He confirmed that during investigations it had been noted that the smell of fuel outside the accused's front door had indeed been "strong." Moreover, the fuel allegedly thrown onto the wooden door in the failed arson attempt had even entered the accused's house. His partner had reportedly told the police that she almost slipped on it.

Inspector Arnaud further reported a fireworks expert as stating that the sack found outside the accused's door was similar to that used to let off fireworks. All the elements for the arson were seemingly in place, the defence remarked. "All that was needed was the final spark," defence lawyers said.

Sylvester Farrugia, 25, was found dead in Marsa earlier this month.

The prosecution also explained that the only factor linking the accused to the murder were the shots fired from his residence, a fact corroborated by a neighbour who heard "loud bangs." The defence also declared that they were not denying the fact that shots were fired from the accused's residence.

The victim was found dead in another street, some three blocks away from the accused's home, in a Toyota Starlet that had been reported stolen last November and also had stolen number plates. However, he had no criminal record and was not a familiar face with the police, the inspector said.

Suspicious movements on CCTV

The court heard that a CCTV camera some 30 metres away from the spot where the victim was found, had recorded suspicious movements. A burly man, bald and wearing a hoodie, was seen walking down Simpson street towards the site where the corpse was later discovered. He then returned, wearing the hood, and walked on. At no time was the body of the victim visible on the camera range.

The police allegedly identified this person owing to his particular stature and gait. Later, under police questioning, this man declared that he had no idea as to what had become of Sylvester Farrugia. However, upon being told that he was a suspect, the man refused to answer further questions.

This suspect's house was searched by the police, however, he was not tested for gunshot residue. Asked whether fingerprint tests had linked this suspect to the jerrycan allegedly used in the arson attempt and dumped by the accused in an open space just up the road from his home, the prosecution declared that it was still waiting for test results.

The camera footage retrieved from Simpson street also showed a Toyota Vitz, similar to that owned by the victim - identifiable by its distinctive tow bar - drive down in the direction of Balbi Street, then reverse and once again drive down, stopping in front of the CCTV camera. A man of tall and slight build, with dark hair and wearing a white shirt was seen getting out of the car. After a while he returned to the car and drove off.

This second suspect was identified by the police and arrested, though he reportedly refused to answer any questions and was not swabbed for gunshot residue.

Asked whether the victim could have been shot inside the same car outside which he had been discovered in Simpson street, inspector Arnaud replied that he could not exclude such a possibility.

It was observed that no traces of blood were found outside the accused's house. The only blood smears were found on the rear door handle of the Toyota Starlet, besides the blood which had oozed out of the wound in the victim's back where the bullet had entered and penetrated his heart and lung without causing an exit wound.

On that fateful Sunday morning, the victim's mother had allegedly gone out with her son's friends to look for him. One of the men later arrested as a suspect was there too. The five-person search party had found Mr Farrugia's Toyota Vitz in Valletta Road, Luqa after taking a detour on account of a heavy traffic near the Addolorata cemetery.

A female resident from Għabex street, a one-way and relatively busy street, also testified that on the day of the murder, while on her way to the 8.00am mass, she had discovered a lot of shattered transparent glass outside her door. "It was not just a broken bottle or glass, there was much more," the woman recalled. She swept it away from the pavement and street and dumped it into a rubbish bag after returning from church and before the arrival of the police.

Lawyers Giannella DeMarco, Gianluca Caruana Curran and Franco Debono were defence counsel. Lawyer Jason Azzopardi was parte civile.