A second suspect in a shocking double murder was remanded in custody on Friday morning.

Inspector James Grech and Inspector Colin Sheldon arraigned 36-year-old Macedonian Viktor Dragomanski, who was assisted by lawyer Joe Brincat as legal aid.

Before Magistrate Victor Axiak, Dragomanski was charged with the murder of Christian Pandolfino and Ivor Piotr Maciejowski on August 18. He was also charged with theft, extortion, possession of a weapon during the commission of the offences, handling stolen goods, stealing a vehicle and switching its numberplates with other stolen ones.

The accused, with red marks on his forehead denoting a violent struggle, leaned on his knuckles on the desk in front of him as the court asked him the initial questions.

Asked what his occupation was, he replied, “I don’t work.”

He pleaded not guilty.

Brincat said it was “only fair” if the police indicated why they had reasonable suspicion.

Inspector Grech said that police had arrested the suspect and had CCTV footage of 3 people. The police received information that one person in the picture was Viktor and were also told where he lived. On the 26th in the evening, police proceeded to the address, where a person told him that accused was at a hotel in Gzira.

He is the second person to be charged over the murder of Christian Pandolfino and Ivor Maciejowski in their Sliema home on 18 August.

On Thursday, Albanian national Daniel Muka pleaded not guilty to the murder but did not request bail. Muka had been out on bail in connection with his role in an armed hold-up in Sliema in 2017. 

Video: Alenka Falzon