The victims of the brutal crime were Christian Pandolfino and his partner Ivor Piotr Maciejowski.

The tragic incident occurred three years ago on 18th August at around 10.15 pm, when the two men were shot and murdered in a suspected robbery at their home in Locker Street.

Pandolfino worked as an investment banker while Maciejowski was an art collector whose love for his pieces was sometimes shared on his social media.

Daniel Muka, an Albanian national who was out on bail at the time of the crimes, is the prime suspect and is facing 10 charges, with the most serious one being voluntary homicide which, if found guilty, can land him life in prison.

In all, Muka is being accused of robbery accompanied by intentional homicide, aggravated by violence, means, place, and time, as well as the illegal detention of the victims against their will while they were being subject to physical harm with the intention of extorting money, possession of a firearm during the commission of an offence, acquiring stolen property, breaches of bail conditions, aggravated car theft, and breaches of firearm and ammunition licensing laws, according to Net News.

The police were allegedly informed of the crime in Sliema and were told that three men were seen entering the residence before gunshots were subsequently heard from inside the residence. Immediately after these shots were heard, the men were allegedly seen leaving the area in a white vehicle, bearing the license plate ‘JET 082’.

Officers from various units rushed to the scene and found that Pandolfino and Maciejowski had been fatally shot within the same residence. Pandolfino was found lying on the ground at the entrance of the home, while Maciejowski was found with a bullet in his head near the stairs between the ground floor and the level of the first floor of the residence.

Further investigations revealed signs of recent entry on the main door of the residence suggesting that the perpetrators gained access through force. Preliminary evidence indicated that once inside, the assailants immediately encountered Pandolfino and reportedly shot him multiple times.

It appeared that the perpetrators then proceeded to the upper level and shot Maciejowski.

A criminal inquiry was immediately opened and a host of experts were appointed, through which CCTV footage was observed.

This footage showed Pandolfino arriving home on his quad bike after a farewell dinner, according to sources. A suspicious white vehicle was also observed as it explored the area and stopped on the upper side of Locker Street.

A tall man, followed by a shorter one proceeded from the suspect’s white vehicle and entered the victims’ residence.

The shorter person was then seen coming out and walking toward the white vehicle and proceeding to the residence for a second time, however, with a third assailant. Soon after, the three suspects were recorded fleeing the area with a white bag, the vehicle went towards Triq Tignè.

Items in the car were used for the murders and the robbery.

Two days later, a white Volkswagen Tiguan was found in Pieta in the vicinity of San Luqa Hospital during a patrol by the Police CID.

At the time of its discovery, the vehicle which looked eerily similar to the suspects’ white vehicle had a different license plate: ‘CCB 042’.

According to information at the time, these license plates had been reported as stolen. A forensic team was consequently called to the scene where the Volkswagen Tiguan was found a search was conducted. 

A brown handbag was found in the vehicle which contained, among several others, items connected to one of the victims’ sisters. Most significantly, the license plates ‘JET 082’ used during the time of the incident were found inside the vehicle, further confirming that this was the same car used in the homicide.

Several other items were discovered in the vehicle, these consisted of wigs, clothes, masks, gloves, and imitation firearms which were all taken into custody for further forensic examination.

Meanwhile, CCTV footage acquired from the parking lot where the Volkswagen Tiguan was found showed three people who fit the description obtained through the footage examined on the night of the double-murder leaving the area.

A trail of CCTV footage from different cameras was examined, which showed the three people walking through Triq L’Orsolini, down the Gwardamanfia Hill, and then recorded them at the bus stop in Triq Marina, Msida.  At this stage and through close observation, it was noted that one of the three people had a bandaged hand and as a result of further investigation, the police arrived at Daniel Muka. 

He fit the physical description taken the night of the incident: a tall man wearing an elbow support sleeve. He was also seen driving a Peugot 106 identical to that included in the data provided by investigators from other state authorities,

Moreover, this led the police to their hypothesis that Muka needed to be investigated more closely. Further inquiries in the area of the homicide and on the same night of the incident, led to the discovery of the mobile phone of Muka.

Muka was then found in Floriana with a weapon that he said was used in the murders. More investigations revealed that Muka missed a regular appointment with Maltese authorities the day after the homicide. This grabbed the attention of the investigators and in tandem with all the facts mentioned above, the investigators obtained a warrant for the man’s arrest.

He was arrested in a Floriana residence on 25th August of that same year, seven days after the murder.

This residence was different from the one he provided to the authorities and during a raid, a Glock-brand semi-automatic pistol filled with 11 bullets was recovered. The search further discovered jewelry belonging to one of the victims as well as remnants of blood on Muka’s shoes. 

Muka made three statements and after his first questioning, he chose to cooperate with authorities. He initially admitted to being present at the site of the incident during the murder, stating that he rang the doorbell and one of the victims opened it.

He claimed that he had words for the victim and during the struggle, his co-perpetrator (the second, shorter man), proceeded into the residence and shot the first victim near the entrance of the home. Muka maintained that this same man continued up the stairs and shot the second victim.

He admitted to stealing the jewellery from the victims’ bodies and confirmed that the necklace he was wearing at the time of his arrest belonged to one of the victims. When questioned about the firearm seized during his arrest, Muka confirmed that it was the weapon used for the double homicide. 

Muka further identified himself on a still photo extracted from CCTV footage and confirmed with investigators that he was the tall person identified early on in the investigation. He also admitted to stealing the number plate ‘JET 082’ from St Julian’s together with his Scandinavian acquaintance.

Moreover, the indictment states that it was apparent to authorities that Muka, through his own actions, entered the home of Pandolfino and Maciejowski, armed and accompanied by an accomplice, and from that point, through the use of fatal firearms, ultimately resulted in the homicide of the two individuals during a violent robbery.

Two other men were also brought to Court in connection with this shocking case. Victor Dragomanski, a 39-year-old from North Macedonia, and Jesper Kristiansen, a 33-year-old Danish man. They are facing similar charges to Muka.

From the testimony and investigation, it emerged that two assailants were in the residence before the shots were fired. Accompanying Muka was allegedly Kristiansen – Dragomanski remained in the vehicle.

Dragomanski maintained that he thought that this would just be a robbery, saying that Muka and Kristiansen ruined his life in four minutes.

Just last week, one of Muka’s many requests for bail was rejected yet again. He argued that the state had breached his right to personal freedom by failing to introduce electronic tagging as an alternative to detention.

Judge Francesco Depasquale rejected his request based on the seriousness of the crime and the legitimate fear of an attempted escape from the island.

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