A Serbian national was arraigned on Wednesday evening in connection with the 2018 murder of an Egyptian man in Gozo.

Aleksander Stojanovic, 43, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Walid Salah Abdel Motaleb Mohammed, in Gharb.

The victim, also 43, had been found dead in San Dimitri Road in Gharb on the morning of 15 January 2018.

Assisted by lawyers Franco Debono and Mario Camilleri, Stojanovic pleaded not guilty to the charge but did not make a request for bail. The court, presided by Magistrate Simone Grech, accepted a request by the prosecution for the freezing of the accused’s assets.

Details about the case, which was solved over the past few weeks, were given during a police crime conference on Wednesday afternoon.

While investigators found five spent shotgun casings in the area, the victim had been hit twice – in the neck and chest. The shots were fired at very close range, police spokesman Brandon Pisani said.  The murder weapon, however, has not been found.

Pisani said the police had analysed a lot of CCTV footage and the victim’s last movements after parking his car in Republic Street, Rabat, Gozo. 

In September 2018, the police found the car in Malta and investigations continued to identify the alleged killer.  The car was in the hands of third parties, but Pisani did not elaborate on the circumstances of how the vehicle was found.

In recent weeks, investigations intensified and more analysis from CCTV and new information which the police acquired, leading to the arrest of the alleged aggressor - the driver of the vehicle.

The suspect was arrested on 10 May, although the circumstances of his arrest could not be elaborated upon as they are subject to a separate investigation. He was given police bail twice so investigations could continue before being arrested again in order to be charged on Wednesday evening.

Pisani was accompanied by Superintendent Keith Arnaud, the head of homicide squad, and Inspector Bernard Charles Spiteri of Gozo District.

Pisani concluded by saying that the police do not sleep on unsolved cases, and that the developments in this case are proof of that.

Questioned by the media, Pisani was unable to confirm whether the suspect was a contracted hitman, as reported in the media this week.

Likewise, Pisani could not answer questions about what the police believe to be the motive behind the murder, and whether it had anything to do with drug trafficking charges which the victim had been facing at the time of his demise.

Asked by this newsroom whether the man who was set to be charged had any criminal record and whether he was collaborating with police in his interrogation, Pisani said that he could not answer as investigations were still ongoing.

 

Photos: Miguela Xuereb/Newsbook