Richard Grech, also known as Iz-Zinanna, was yesterday jailed for life after jurors, following 10 hours of deliberation, found him guilty of the callous murder of bank messenger Alphonse Ferriggi.
Mr Grech is the 12th person in two decades to be jailed for life and the second person to be tried over the senseless murder of the victim who was killed with a single shot to the head at almost point blank range in September 2000. Joseph Zammit, the getaway driver in the hold-up, was jailed in 2009 for 30 years after jurors found him guilty of being an accomplice in the murder.
Taking the witness stand last Friday, Mr Grech, a reformed drug and alcohol addict, admitted to being part of a group of four men who planned the hold-up but said that because of his alcoholism he left to get a drink, moments before the crime took place.
He placed the blame on the other two men, Chris Scerri known as Buttuni or Gazzetti and James Vella, known as Il-Frejżer; the latter, he claimed, planned it all and fired the gun.
Mr Vella is so violent that he would murder his own children if he had to and had even knocked his own mother’s teeth out during an argument, Mr Grech had testified.
It emerged during the trial that Mr Grech had already been previously jailed for involuntary homicide and had convictions dating back to the late 1980s for everything from drug possession to animal cruelty.
During the sitting yesterday, which was attended by Mr Ferrggi’s wife, Mary, defence lawyers Chris Cardona and Mark Vassallo told the judge that once he had not been found unanimously guilty then life imprisonment was not mandatory.
He also appealed to Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano’s experience in dealing with drug addicts and pointed out that his client was reformed.
He added the defence still believed that Mr Grech’s involvement was secondary.
Prosecuting lawyer Aaron Bugeja, from the Attorney General’s Office, said the case was what it was and left punishment in the hands of the court.
In handing down judgment, Mr Justice Quintano said he was still shocked at witnessing the CCTV footage which showed the victim standing one second and dead the next. “The victim was a family man, the type of person we need more of,” he added.
Previous life sentences
Richard Grech received the 12th life sentence handed down by Maltese courts in the past two decades.
The two longest serving inmates are Tunisians Mohsin Bin Brahim Mosbah and Ben Ali Wahid Ben Hassine who were sentenced to life in jail after admitting to killing four people on separate dates in February 1988. This was the only case of a serial killing in Malta with the motive being theft.
Others handed down life sentences include:
Joseph Harrington, after being convicted of murdering Sylvia King, who was burnt alive in her car on April 4, 1993 at Kunċizzjoni, limits of Rabat.
Bertu Ellul, found guilty of killing three people, including a seven-year-old boy, in a shooting spree in May 1997. The victims were Rose Baldacchino, her son Antoine and Matthew Baldacchino.
Andy Spiteri, who admitted to shooting Police Constable Roger Debattista, who was standing guard outside the Bank of Valletta branch in Qormi in November 2001. He formed part of a five-man gang that robbed the bank, with one of them, Ian Galdes Spiteri, also receiving a life sentence after admitting to his part in the theft.
Ibrahim Ramadan Chamber Shnishah, who was found guilty of complicity in the murder of hairdresser Alfie Rizzo on February 4, 1998.
Alfred Azzopardi, who was jailed for life after killing Vanessa Grech and her 17-month-old baby girl Ailey on November 12, 2001. Their bodies were found in the well of her house with the baby sustaining four stab wounds and her mother 12.
David Schembri, in 2009, for the vicious murder of 32-year-old Josette Scicluna, whom he stabbed 49 times in front of their seven-year-old daughter after shooting open the door of her flat in May 2004.
“Serial killer” Salvatore Mangion, jailed for life after claiming the reason he admitted to the murder of a woman was a bribe of cigarettes and his favourite dish: eggs and chips. He was already serving a 21-year jail term for murdering Francis Caruana in Żejtun in 1998 and trying to murder Mr Caruana’s sister Josephine as he tried to rob them. He also has a pending case for the murder of Maria Stella Magrin in 1986 in a similar botched robbery. He was jailed for the murder of 54-year-old Rosina Zammit after stabbing her 37 times in Safi in 1984.
Gozitan bus driver Ġanni Attard, found guilty last November of being an accomplice to the 2001 murder of traffic warden Fortunata Spiteri.