Duncan Zammit and his wife were asleep in their bedroom alongside their three-month-old twins when Nicholas Gera attacked him with a steak knife, according to a picture of the New Years’ Day double killing pieced together from a number of sources.

If you go with the intention to rob, you’d be as quiet as possible, take whatever you want and leave . . .

Mr Zammit, 32, woke up to find his assailant upon him. Panic ensued and blood spurted on the babies in their cots as the two men, both wielding knives, engaged in a terrible struggle to their deaths. The motive for the attack remains an utter mystery.

Mr Zammit sustained nearly 30 stab wounds, superficial cuts and bruises while Mr Gera, 26, was found with more than 10 similar injuries, police sources said.

According to the autopsies carried out yesterday, both men bled to death in Mr Zammit’s penthouse in High Street, Sliema, at around 6.30 a.m.

Police sources said there were no stab wounds on the men’s backs, indicating they faced each other throughout the fight.

Mr Zammit bled from neck and arm injuries while Mr Gera died of stab wounds in the neck.

The police suspect Mr Gera must have known his way around the 500-square-metre penthouse, as it was easy to get lost in the maze of corridors.

Investigators believe Mr Gera entered the residence unarmed and that he did so by climbing down to the penthouse terrace from the roof of the apartment block. He then made his way to the kitchen from where he picked up a big chef’s steak knife.

Mr Gera then headed towards the bedroom and went straight to Mr Zammit stabbing him in his bed in the dark, the police sources said. Mr Zammit asked his wife to call the police.

The fight moved from the bedroom to the corridor where both men were found dead in a pool of blood.

Police sources said two steak knives were used and blood was found on the bed. The investigators are convinced Mr Gera went to the penthouse with the intention to kill but are still trying to establish who brought the second knife to the bedroom.

“If you go with the intention to rob, you’d be as quiet as possible, take whatever you want and leave, without making any noise or waking up anybody,” the sources said.

While the police are pursuing the theory that the two men knew each other, which could provide them with a motive for the attack, the families of both victims have insisted they are unaware of any acquaintance whatsoever between the couple and the assailant.

The only known connection is that Mr Zammit’s wife, Claire Zammit Xuereb, knew Mr Gera’s brother who worked at an estate agency.

The timeline of events may be of particular importance to investigators since Mr Gera had been at work until 2.30 a.m. at Shivas, an Indian restaurant in Paceville.

After finishing work, Mr Gera is reported to have gone to Muddy Waters pub in St Julians but witnesses said he was asked to leave the bar sometime between 3 and 4 a.m. for being “a nuisance”.

“Nicholas left without any resistance... he was drunk and had been flirting with women who could have had boyfriends ready to pick up a fight. He was sent out to avoid any scuffles,” the witnesses said.

According to Mr Gera’s mother, the last recorded communication was a phone call her son made to a friend at around 5 a.m. Sources said the call could have been made to try and regain access to Muddy Waters.

Meanwhile, Mr Zammit and his wife had been hosting a small party for their parents at their apartment to usher in the New Year.

The party ended at around 1 a.m. when Mr Zammit drove his parents back to their home to Tigné. The tragic events unfolded at around 6.30 a.m. when Mr Gera surprised the couple in their sleep.

According to Mr Zammit’s father-in-law, entrepreneur Angelo Xuereb, his daughter called him first in a panicked state to tell him that a man with knives had attacked them and there was blood all over the place.

Mrs Zammit Xuereb is then understood to have phoned emergency services but two ambulances sent on site left empty since the men were dead.

Inquiring Magistrate Edwina Grima and forensic expert Mario Scerri, together with CID police inspectors are heading the investigations and statements were taken from numerous people yesterday.

Additional reporting by Ariadne Massa