Joseph Bonnici, 38, of Ghaxaq, on Sunday was charged with the murder of his mother Marija Lourdes Bonnici and his sister Angele Bonnici, with the accused pleading not guilty to the charges levelled against him.

The prosecution said that in investigating the missing persons report, which had been filed by the accused, they had found details which conflicted with certain elements of what the accused was saying, which had led them to the suspicion that both Marija Lourdes and Angele were in fact dead.  

The prosecution said that the accused had confessed to having killed his mother and sister and later led the police to where the bodies were buried in a field in the limits of Ghaxaq.

Bonnici was charged with killing the two women, using an irregular firearm against a person, shooting a firearm in a residential area, filing a false police report and hiding the bodies.

A number of accusations with regards to firearms lacking a police licence and to the manufacturing of an irregular firearm were also levelled against the accused.

Bonnici remained silent as the charges were read out, answering only questions about personal details such as his name and address. He had been escorted to court in a red car, wearing a grey hoodie that covered most of his face, and kept his head down as he was driven by.

Through his defence lawyer Franco Debono, he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. No bail was requested and he was remanded in custody.

Keith Arnaud, John Spiteri and Roderick Attard are leading the prosecution, while Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri are Bonnici’s defence counsel.

Bonnici had been arrested on Saturday after the bodies of his mother Marija Lourdes, 70, and sister Angele, 30, were found in a field in the limits of Gudja.

The two women had been reported missing by the police on Wednesday, having last been seen on Tuesday. They were found in the field after the police were alerted by a relative of the family, which lives in Ghaxaq.

The accused's father, Paul Bonnici, is serving a 31-year prison sentence after having been convicted killing two of his neighbours 19 years ago.