Inspector Chris Pullicino told the court that he was appointed to take another look at the 1989 Ahrax tal-Mellieha shooting. He said he spoke to George Pace as part of the investigation and the latter unexpectedly admitted his involvement, also pointing the finger at two other men.

Michael Vella, aged 65, from Gharghur, but presently residing at the St Vincent de Paule home for the elderly, Carmelo Sant, 53, who does not have a fixed address and 53-year-old George Pace from Birkirkara are all charged with the murder of Nazzareno Ebejer in Mellieha in April 1989.

They are also accused of attempted theft and being in possession of an unlicensed firearm. Vella, who turned up in court in a wheelchair, was also accused of relapsing in view of a conviction handed down in 1964.

Ebejer, himself convicted for murder, had left Malta for Wales after being released from prison for killing 36-year-old Nina Galea from Birkirkara in July 1952.

He had been arguing with his brother-in-law and instead shot Ms Galea, who was sitting on her doorstep, by accident. He only served six years in prison due to various amnesties.

Ebejer had been found in a hunter’s shelter on 10 April 1989. He had returned to Malta a year earlier and was 66 when he died.

Insp. Pullicino told the court that he had been assigned to the unsolved case and began by going through the list of people who had originally helped police with their enquiries. He had not really made any progress, but decided to speak to George Pace, who admitted his involvement and also implicated Vella, known as il-Fish and Sant, known as Harbat, in the crime.

He said that Pace admitted that a plan was hatched to rob Ebejer because he always boasted about carrying a lot of money around with him. They therefore decided to invite him to a meal in Mellieha where they demanded cash from him and found nothing. Pace told Insp. Pullicino that it was Sant who shot Ebejer. “He told me that although he and Vella knew that there was shotgun in the car, they never intended using it,” he said.

Insp. Pullicino said Sant was later tracked down and arrested. “I began doing the rounds in fields near Attard, and when I found him, he ran off to a room. Other farmers warned us to be careful because Sant was armed and dangerous,” said the inspector.

He said that by the time he called for armed and body-armoured back-up, Sant had disappeared. However, they searched the room he was in and found a phone number that turned out to belong to a friend. They called the number and the person told them that Sant would be visiting her house later. They went to the residence and he was subsequently arrested.

“We brought him in for questioning and he denied everything, so we felt we had to confront him with George Pace, who was telling a completely different story,” said the inspector.

The inspector said that George Pace repeated the tale of the plan to rob Ebejer and that Sant had shot him. “Sant then turned round and said ‘Eh, it was me that shot him? Didn’t you and Fish go inside the room?’ insinuating that it was actually Vella and Pace who fired the shots,” said Mr Pullicino.

Under pressure from continued questioning, Sant buckled and admitted that he had procured the shotgun and he had fired ‘in the direction’ of Ebejer. He then admitted that he sold the shotgun to a relative. “We followed that up and we are in possession of the weapon. The next step is to carry out ballistic tests to see whether the injuries suffered by the victim are compatible with the weapon,” explained inspector Pullicino.

Assistant police commissioner Emanuel Cassar also testified and supported Insp. Pullicino’s testimony.

Police superintendent Pierre Calleja filled in the missing gaps. He said that Pace also told the police that they had gone up to Mellieha in his red Triumph and on the way, they had given a lift to some people who wanted to go to Cirkewwa.

In addition, superintendent Calleja said that Vella even remembered that this all took place on the Saturday and that they had also seen a police patrol car in Mellieha prior to the shooting.

Asked by defence attorney Jose Herrera whether the plan was, according to Pace and Vella, simply to rob Ebejer, superintendent Calleja said: “I cannot answer that question. All I can say is that they were going to rob a man they knew and they had a shotgun on them. A person you know can identify you, can’t he?”

The case, presided over by magistrate Jacqueline Padovani, continues. Police inspector Chris Pullicino prosecuted while Dr Jose Herrera, Dr Joe Brincat and Dr Silvio Brincat appeared for Pace, Vella and Sant respectively.