A close relative was last night charged with the murder of Mario Camilleri, known as L-Imnieħru, and his 21-year-old son whose bodies were found buried under a tree in a field in Qajjenza, in the limits of Birżebbuġa.
Jason Galea, 39, of Birżebbuġa, appeared before Magistrate Doreen Clark at 10pm and pleaded not guilty to killing his brother-in-law and nephew.
The prosecution, conducted by Police Inspectors Chris Pullicino, Michael Mallia, Louise Calleja and Trevor Micallef, is alleging that he shot Mario Snr in Marsaxlokk at 12.45pm on Wednesday and then killed his nephew shortly later in Qajjenza.
The police say he was accompanied by at least one other person.
Defence lawyer Joseph Giglio appeared for Mr Galea, who is the director of a number of cleaning service companies that employ about 100 people.
Police said Mario Jr was stabbed 34 times and shot
During a press conference before the arraignment, the police said the son, Mario Jr, was stabbed 34 times and shot.
It was very likely that his father had been shot as well but this had to be determined by forensic tests given the body’s advanced stage of decomposition, Assistant Police Commissioner Pierre Calleja said.
He said evidence suggested that Mr Camilleri and his son met their killer at different times and that the father was killed first.
The Qajjenza field where Mr Camilleri, 58, and his son, who lived in Ibraġ, were found on Thursday forms part of a farm owned by an old man off Triq l-Għannejja, near the former gas installation.
Mr Calleja said the police did not exclude the possibility that more people would be charged over the double murder.
Officers were yesterday not in a position to link the two deaths to the recent murders of men involved in criminality.
Mr Calleja said that scene-of-the-crime officers also found the remains of a human leg. It was too early to establish who the remains belonged to or to say whether it was a man or a woman, he added.
Assistant Police Commissioner Paul Vassallo, who heads the vice squad, noted that the investigations had started as a search for two missing people after Mr Camilleri’s wife reported them missing at 8pm on Wednesday .
Mr Camilleri was last seen on Wednesday at 11am when he went to sign the bail book at the St Julian’s police station. He was driving a grey Volkswagen Passat.
His son was last seen boarding a red car in Triq is-Siegħ, Ibraġ, at about midday.
Officers from the criminal investigation department were eventually called in and Mr Calleja explained that investigations led to the arrest of two people. Information they gave led the police to the field in Qajjenza where the two bodies were found buried.
He would not say if the man charged with the murders was one of these two people arrested.
The Passat Mr Camilleri was using was found in Għaxaq yesterday afternoon and a Peugeot, which could be connected to the murders, was found burnt in Żabbar.
He said the police were still sifting through the soil in the Qajjenza field and were searching for the weapons used in the murders.
The owner of the field was also questioned.
Magistrate Edwina Grima is conducting an inquiry and appointed a number of experts to assist her.
This double murder was the first homicide involving a father and son to take place since 1911, crime historian Eddie Attard said.
On August 24, 1911, Mikiel Camilleri, 40, and his 17-year-old son, Carmelo, had been found dead in a field in the limits of Żejtun. The case was solved 18 years later when it was established that four men had been involved. Two died before the trial started and one was jailed for life.
The criminal history of two Mario Camilleris
Mario Camilleri Snr faced a series of charges ranging from assaulting police officers, threatening MPs, drug trafficking and money laundering.
Among his most notorious deeds was his role in the scandal that involved the bribery of former Judge Patrick Vella and former Chief Justice Noel Arrigo in July 2002.
Mr Camilleri paid the two judges €23,000 and €11,650 respectively for reducing his 16-year jail term, for drug trafficking, to 12 years on appeal.
In 2008, he was jailed for four years on being found guilty while his son, Pierre, and another co-accused, Anthony John Grech Sant, were each jailed for three years.
His wife, Mona, and son Pierre were co-accused with him in a drug trafficking case that involved 19 people in November 2002.
His younger son, Mario Jr, also had clashes with the law. In October 2008, father and son were charged with assaulting a 60-year-old man who was dating Mr Camilleri’s daughter.
In July 2010, Mario Jr, who had a suspended driving licence, tried to evade the police when caught behind a wheel and was charged in court. The magistrate had cautioned him, then 18, to change his ways.
Soon after, Mr Camilleri was charged with threatening a journalist for how he reported his son’s case. For this he was eventually jailed for a month, even after the journalist forgave him.
In 2007, he was jailed for three months for threatening Labour MP Josè Herrera over a parliamentary question he had asked in connection with a cleaning contract the courts had given to a company belonging to Mr Camilleri’s family.
Mr Camilleri was awaiting trial for a charge of trafficking in heroin in 2007.
Five murders this year
February 18: Ronald Galea, a 65-year-old Birkirkara businessman, is shot dead outside his meat processing factory in Ħal Far.
May 31: Pawlu Degabriele, 48, of Fgura, known as Is-Suldat, is shot soon after leaving a bar in Triq Belt il-Ħażna, Marsa, at 11am.
June 19: John Spiteri is run over with a four-wheeler in Qbajjar, limits of Marsalforn, following an argument that started when he and his son cut off a shrub to set up their kiosk. Gozitan Gerald Galea was charged with the murder.
July 18: Mario Camilleri and his son Mario Jr are found dead and partially buried in a field in Qajjenza, limits of Birżebbuġa.
Trail of blood
Over the past 16 months, police investigated the murder of seven men who were known to them. According to crime historian Eddie Attard, if it emerges that these murders are gang-related, the situation is truly “alarming”.
Kevin Gatt and Stephen Zammit
On March 15, 2012, the two died after a shootout in a Marsascala apartment block’s garage.
Mr Gatt, 32, from Għaxaq, who had a history of theft and drug-related crimes, was found dead in a stolen Hyundai Accent and Mr Zammit, 32, from Fgura, who was with him, died on April 11.
A third man, Joseph Cutajar, known as Il-Lion, who was slightly injured, directed the police to the car, saying the men shot at him first while he was in his white BMW. He was charged with the double murder.
Joseph Cutajar, Il-Lion, and Josef Grech, Il-Yo Yo
On December 12, 2012, Mr Cutajar, who was out on bail, was shot dead in Mosta at 8.30am.
Hours earlier, Mr Grech, 41, from Balzan, was found dead with a gunshot wound in the head in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq.
Mr Grech was due to face a trial by jury in April over his alleged involvement in the murder of a 55-year-old woman, Patricia Attard, who was shot dead in a minivan at Ta’ Qali on February 13, 2004.
Pawlu Degabriele, Is-Suldat
On May 31 Mr Degabriele, 48, of Fgura, was shot dead in Marsa in his pickup soon after he walked out of a bar. He was hit five times with a semi-automatic 9mm pistol. Last October, a bomb had been placed under Mr Degabriele’s truck parked outside his home in Fgura. In December, he was questioned over the murder of Mr Cutajar.
Mario Camilleri and his son Mario Jr
They were found dead in a field in Qajjenza on Thursday night after having been reported missing the night before. See box below about their criminal history.