A magistrate has released the body of a Russian weapons expert found dead in a St Paul’s Bay apartment last month and police have closed their investigation into the case which is being considered an accident.

Sources said Alexander Pikayev’s family were notified of the release and were making the necessary arrangements to fly the corpse to Russia, where he would be buried.

Dr Pikayev, 48, was found lying on the floor in an apartment in Buġibba Road with a wound to his head on June 16. An autopsy the following day revealed he had suffered a “fractured skull and intracranial haemorrhage”. Meanwhile, a dent on the jamb of a door inside the apartment had immediately led investigators to suspect the death was accidental, with forensic tests proving the head wound was compatible with the woodwork. Sources had also added that the fact the apartment was locked from the inside and nothing was disturbed reinforced the belief this was an accident.

Dr Pikayev was holidaying in Malta with relatives, including his brother, and arrived a few days before the accident occurred.