Four men were killed during the course of 2025.

One of the incidents was a double murder, while the remaining two cases involved men who were shot in separate incidents.

The first recorded homicide of the year took place on 29 June, when a man was shot dead following a minor traffic collision that escalated into a road-rage incident, with the fatal shooting marking the country's first murder of 2025.

Just a month later, on 29 July, Malta was shaken by a double murder in Rabat, where two men were shot dead in a single incident.

Police arrested the suspect who is a relative of the victims, with investigations indicating that the attack occurred within a domestic context. The case accounted for two of the four lives lost to homicide this year.

The other murder occurred in Birgu on 21 September, where a man, who had been shot in an apartment complex, died overnight in hospital from his injuries.

Police subsequently confirmed that the death was being treated as a homicide.

Beyond the murders recorded in 2025, the year was also marked by major court convictions in long-running homicide cases.

On 10 June, four men - Adrian and Robert Agius, known as "Ta' Maksar", Jamie Vella, and George Degiorgio, known as "iċ-Ċiniż" - were sentenced to life imprisonment over their roles in the murders of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 and lawyer Carmel Chircop in 2015.

In a separate case, Roderick Cassar was sentenced to 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of his estranged wife Bernice Cilia, who was killed in November 2022.

29 June - Jean Paul Busuttil

Fifty-three-year-old businessman Jean Paul Busuttil, known as Ta' Bandallu, was shot and killed after a minor crash between a car and a motorcycle at around 8am in Triq tal-Konkos, Bidnija, escalated into the first murder of the year.

The alleged aggressor, 46-year-old Mohamed Hamdan from Libya, is accused of Busuttil's murder. He is pleading not guilty.

Shortly before 7.30am, Hamdan, riding a Yamaha motorcycle up a country lane in Bidnija, collided with Busuttil's Volvo, which was carrying his wife and mother-in-law.

The minor crash resulted in a heated argument. A passing police sergeant intervened to calm the two men before requesting a LESA warden to handle the paperwork and continuing on his way.

Witnesses then described Hamdan as becoming "very aggressive", pacing and swearing while waiting for the warden.

Testimony in court later indicated that at one point, he shoved his own son, who had arrived on another motorcycle, out of the way before riding off. The son warned the warden that his father might do something bad.

Minutes later, Hamdan returned, parked his motorcycle, warned the warden out of the way, and shot Busuttil five times at close range, reportedly telling him in Maltese, "I hope you die, you bastard".

Busuttil's widow, Maria Mirjam Busuttil, in court recounted the terrifying moments, as after the shots, she and her mother loaded her wounded husband into the car and drove him towards the hospital, flagging down an ambulance en route. Doctors pronounced him dead two hours later.

Magistrate Astrid May Grima is presiding over the case.

29 July - Anthony Agius and Dennis Mifsud

In a double murder which shocked the nation, 57-year-old Anthony Agius from Rabat and 51-year-old Dennis Mifsud from Siggiewi were both shot dead in the Kuncizzjoni area, limits of Rabat, just before 6pm on 29 July.

Carmelo Ciantar, 72, known as "id-Durga", stands accused of fatally shooting the two men, who were relatives of the accused's partner.

He is being charged with the voluntary homicide of the victims, as well as voluntarily setting a building on fire, of being in possession of a firearm, and of not having a police licence for it.

On the day, police were informed that two shots had been fired near the parish church of the Immaculate Conception in the direction of two individuals, who died as a result.

Police arrived on the scene and found the two men appearing lifeless, with the first man found inside a van in the driver's seat with a gunshot wound to the head - Dennis Mifsud.

In another vehicle, there was another man, lifeless and covered, with multiple gunshot wounds - Anthony Agius.

Personal documents belonging to the accused were found, and police spoke to Agius' daughter, who said she had received a phone call from the accused, who told her he had just killed her father.

A search was initiated by the police after contacting Ciantar on his mobile phone, who told them that he wasn't going to prison, and they wouldn't find him alive.

Testimony in court later showed that the police had managed to convince him to reveal his location, which was in the parking lot of a shopping complex in Mosta where he had just eaten.

While they were still on the phone, he was located and arrested. A shotgun with three cartridges was found in his van. The police said that Ciantar began saying he would rather take his own life than go through the entire legal process.

As details continued to emerge, the familial relationship of the victims and Ciantar's partner was revealed. Agnes Mifsud, Ciantar's partner, is the mother of Dennis Mifsud, and Anthony Agius is the husband of Agnes' daughter.

The dispute came over how farmland owned by Agnes was divided between the family members, where Anthony and Dennis each got half.

The last separate portion she gave to Carmelo to use it to pass the time. However, Ciantar wanted another piece of land to set traps on the fields, part of the land which was already divided between the two victims.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud is leading the magisterial inquiry.

21 September - Kyle Mifsud

The third murder victim of the year was 33-year-old Kyle Mifsud from Cospicua, at around 1pm inside a block of apartments where he was shot.

Salvino Mangion, 71, residing in Birgu, has been charged with the voluntary homicide of Mifsud, as well as with illegal weapon possession and for firing a weapon less than 200m from an inhabited area.

Police found the victim inside a block of apartments in Birgu, covered in blood and calling for help. Upon arriving on site, police found the victim heavily bleeding on the stairs with a visible stomach wound, conscious and crying in pain.

An ambulance arrived on the scene, provided medical attention, and transported him to Mater Dei Hospital.

Mifsud died overnight due to his injuries, with the police subsequently treating the case as a homicide.

Mangion, who lived in the same building where he shot Mifsud, was arrested with the help of his son.

In court, it was revealed that the victim and his partner had been found guilty of stealing from Mangion two years prior and had been sentenced to prison.

In court it was revealed that this was a complex case between the victim, the accused, and the victim's partner, Donna Camilleri.

Mifsud and Camilleri repeatedly visited Mangion in his Birgu flat, mostly to ask him for money. The two had a history of theft, drug abuse, and manipulation.

It also emerged that Camilleri visited Mangion's apartment two or three times a week.

Magistrate Marseanne Farrugia is presiding over the ongoing case.