Criminal gangs attacking each other is not a new phenomenon but the audacity of recent killings shocked people, according to a criminologist.

Saviour Formosa says fighting between gangs happened in the past but the latest spate of murders is worrying because of the place where they occurred.

“The methodology used is shocking because killings have happened in public places, sometimes in full view of others, with the assailants unbothered by the attention,” Dr Formosa notes.

Killings involving different gang members are normally associated with a turf war that may have economic implications, he explains, but settling scores in public places seems to be a new phenomenon.

The methodology used is shocking

He does not rule out that the murders were carried out by foreign hit men but is cautious on this line of reasoning. Maltese criminals may be using this method to make it seem like a foreigner did it, he quickly adds.

Police historian Eddie Attard records 25 murders over the past five years of which nine remain unsolved. Three of the unsolved murders involved drive-by shootings where the victims were killed at almost point-blank range.

Businessman Joseph Baldacchino was shot in 2010 soon after parking his car near Hastings Garden, in Valletta with the assailant leaving the scene of the crime on a motorbike.

Joseph Cutajar, known as il-Lion, was gunned down last year, allegedly by a machine gun, while driving his car in Mosta in the vicinity of a school. Mr Cutajar was accused of killing two men in a garage complex in Marsascala earlier in 2012. He claimed he had acted in self defence.

Paul Degabriele of Fgura was shot dead at point-blank range after coming out of a Marsa bar last week. The assailant escaped in a stolen van driven by an accomplice. Mr Degabriele had escaped death in October last year when he realised that a bomb had been planted under his pickup truck outside his house.

Another murder that had similar hallmarks was that of businessman Ronnie Agius, who was shot by a man wearing a motorcycle helmet in a Birkirkara bar in 2008. This case is also unsolved.

Mr Attard says that although the number of murders may seem on the low side, the increasing use of firearms in crime is a worrying trend.

Note: Solved cases represent those where someone was found guilty and sentenced by the court. Pending cases represent those where the police have charged someone with the murder. Unsolved cases are those where no one has been charged. Not guilty represents cases where the charged person was acquitted by the court. Closed cases are those where the suspect or accused would have died pending the outcome of a court case.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com