The main suspect in the Gozo murder investigation is believed to be an Eastern European who has fled the sister isle and is currently hiding somewhere in Malta.
The police have launched a nationwide hunt for the man who was last seen with the Egyptian national, who was found dead in a remote field in Għarb on Monday.
Walid Salah Abdel Motaleb Mohammed, 42, was seen in CCTV footage getting into a car in Victoria at around midnight last Sunday. His body was found in the outskirts of Għarb a few hours later.
The sources said the person suspected of killing the Egyptian is believed to be a white male of medium build and fair hair.
“We believe this man is either Romanian or Bulgarian and has since fled Gozo. The community on Gozo is too small for someone to stay hidden, and we would have found him by now if he were still there. He has likely travelled to Malta to hide,” the sources said.
We believe this man is either Romanian or Bulgarian
Mr Mohammed had been married to a Gozitan and had two children. The couple was separated.
Police have obtained CCTV footage from outlets in Victoria which showed Mohammed parking his car on the main road.
Sometime later, he got into another car, lit a cigarette and spoke to the driver for some time before they drove away.
Investigators said that the second car had left Gozo the same day as the murder on a Gozo Channel ferry before investigators had even known about the murder.
“When we looked through CCTV footage taken on the ferries, we saw the car leaving for Malta, however it was not driven by the suspect but by a dark-skinned man,” the sources said.
Mr Mohammed’s body was found in a pool of blood in a field close to the chapel dedicated to San Dimitri in rural Għarb.
He is believed to have been shot from close range. No motive has yet been established by investigators, however sources said a number of leads were being chased down.
“We aren’t sure what it was that he was mixed up in, and we are not excluding a number of different possibilities,” the sources said, adding that drug trafficking could have been involved.
The sources said the victim, who worked as a plasterer, also had a pending court case over drug possession and trafficking.
Mr Mohammed had spent time behind bars after being found guilty of threatening to throw acid in his partner’s face if she sent his daughters to religion classes at school.