Qormi valley murder victim had told brother about 'troublesome' clients he suspected of drug trafficking

Murdered taxi driver Mario Farrugia had spoken to his brother before his death, expressing concerns about two troublesome clients, whom he suspected to be involved in the drugs trade, and who were repeatedly booking his services but only paying half the fare.

Farrugia’s remains were discovered inside the boot of his own car, in a valley in Qormi on 5 April. An autopsy revealed that he had been stabbed in the chest no less than 45 times.

This emerged in court as Farrugia’s brother, Joseph, took the stand in the compilation of evidence against 38 year-old Elliot Paul Busuttil, who is accused of Farrugia’s murder. Other persons, who police suspect to have played a part in the killing are understood to still be at large.

During the last sitting, in May, the court had been told that Farrugia's DNA had been detected in bloodstains which police had noticed on Busuttil's bedroom wall.

The victim had been 62 at the time of his murder, confirmed his brother. “Mario was reported missing by some neighbours,” he said. “I found out about it from Facebook, because I was abroad on work at the time.”

“I called my wife and told her to check and see what was going on. She later called me back and told me that she had phoned the police and they told her that they had received a missing persons report, which they had published to Facebook, as they had no records of next of kin.”

The police had been looking for his brother’s car at the time, as it had not been found at the victim’s place of residence, he added.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi, parte civile, asked what type of car it was. “A Peugeot 407, metallic grey,” replied the witness. He could not recall the registration number.

“He had bought it after seeing an advert on MaltaPark and contacted the seller.”

Azzopardi asked what he had needed the car for. “He had wanted it so he could work as a taxi driver. He had been boarded out and wanted to build up his pension income,” he said, adding that Farrugia had started working as a taxi driver in November 2021. 

The witness recalled the last time he had seen his brother alive, when he had gone to Mario Farrugia’s house to help him read some correspondence as the victim did not know how to read. “I asked him how the taxi business was going. He said ‘I’m not doing so well. And there are two people who are always booking me and paying only half the fare.’” The witness said his brother had added that he suspected these individuals were involved in the drug trade.

Before the witness was due to go abroad, the victim had spoken to him, asking for his mechanic’s contact details. “That was the last conversation I had with my brother,” he said.

Adjourning the case to 28 June, the court ordered that two witnesses, who failed to turn up for today’s hearing despite being summonsed, be escorted by the police to the next sitting.

Lawyers Edward Gatt and Ishmael Psaila are defence counsel to the accused.

Lawyer George Camilleri is prosecuting on behalf of the office of the Attorney General. Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi is representing the victim’s family in the proceedings.