Convicted murderer Vince Muscat has explained the way the 2015 murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop was executed, testifying that Chircop was shot dead at close range by murder suspect Jamie Vella. 

Muscat, who has been given a presidential pardon to testify about this case, said that George Degiorgio first informed him of the murder plot at the infamous Marsa potato shed in September/October 2015.

Muscat said Degiorgio told him that the ‘Maksar’ brothers, a reference to Adrian and Robert Agius, wanted to eliminate a lawyer who was chasing Adrian Agius for money. Vella was also roped in.

Muscat himself insisted he knows little about the motive behind the murder except that money and a villa in Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq, owned by Adrian Agius’ father, were at stake, describing himself as a man who doesn’t like asking questions. 

He was paid €20,000 for the murder, with €5,000 given to him in advance and the rest paid afterward.  

Muscat started stalking Chircop, finding out that he kept his car parked at a garage complex in his hometown of Birkirkara and that he would often frequent a certain cafeteria in Naxxar. Once, he and Degiorgio followed Chircop and his wife to the Birgu waterfront, buying burgers and a coke from a nearby kiosk as they watched the couple eat at a restaurant from afar.

The two men and Vella decided to kill him at the Birkirkara garage couple, mapping out the exact route they will take to reach it and escape. 

On the day of the murder, Muscat, Degiorgio and Vella drove to the garage complex, with Muscat and Vella wearing balaclavas and Degiorgio wearing a hat to avoid being identified.

After around an hour and a half waiting at the top floor, they spotted Chircop approaching his garage door. Degiorgio drove down and veered the car in a particular angle to ensure Jamie Vella was in a good position to shoot him from the passenger window.

The car was only around one and a half metres away from Chircop and Vella fired four or five shots at the lawyer. 

The court sitting is still ongoing 

What do you make of this testimony?