A homicide on New Year’s Day is a very rare occasion with the only other recorded killing going back almost 190 years, according to police historian Eddie Attard.

There have been 12 homicide victims in Sliema since the 1800s

The homicide in Sliema is only the second since 1829 when another happened in a private residence in Cospicua on New Year’s Day.

However, going by the theory that the two fighting men killed each other, Mr Attard said Sunday’s deaths were the first in recorded history to have seen two men finish off each other in the same fight.

Another historical particularity is the fact that Sliema is not a locality associated with homicides despite its large population when compared with other localities.

Mr Attard said that the two deaths on Sunday brought the number of homicide victims in Sliema to 12 since the 1800s. Eight of the Sliema homicides, he added, had involved foreigners.

“I knew Duncan Zammit’s parents from Mass and I was shocked to hear about the death of their son on Sunday,” Mr Attard said.

The former police officer believes the mysterious circumstances surrounding the double fatal stabbing will make it difficult for the police to solve the crime. He added that a lot depended on what the only eyewitness, Mr Zammit’s wife, Claire Zammit Xuereb, who was sleeping next to him when the attack happened, would tell the police.