Videos on Qormi murder suspect's phone showed him wearing same clothes seen in CCTV footage

Eliott Paul Busuttil was all smiles as he walked into Magistrate Astrid May Grima’s courtroom before the compilation of evidence against him continued this afternoon, with several court experts exhibiting their reports.

Busuttil, 38, is accused of the murder of 62-year-old chauffeur Mario Farrugia. Farrugia’s heavily decomposed body was discovered inside the trunk of his own car in a Qormi valley on 5 April this year.

Several police officers from different departments testified today. A sergeant from the homicide squad told the court how, after the discovery of Farrugia’s body, Busuttil had become a suspect when he was identified from CCTV footage. 

During a previous sitting, the court had heard how police had collected footage from 36 cameras located in Attard, Marsa and Qormi which had then been used to create a timeline of the route taken by a suspicious car, which was later found to belong to the accused.

Busuttil was recognised from the footage and was soon arrested at his Attard residence, said the sergeant. The flat was also searched, with several pocket knives being seized as evidence, together with a single round of 9mm ammunition and a number of mobile phones. The officer exhibited a report on the data extracted from the mobile phones by a court expert.

A video found on one of those phones showed the accused wearing some items of clothing which he had also been seen wearing in the CCTV footage, he added.

Scene of Crime Officers also testified today, giving an account of how they had documented the crime scene and the searches at the Attard flat. DNA samples and photographs were taken at the property and chemical tests were also carried out to detect the presence of blood. Three officers from the police’s forensic science laboratory had carried out the chemical tests, swabbing the scene for traces of blood. They exhibited a report on their findings to the court this afternoon.

A senior manager at Transport Malta also took the stand, giving evidence about the records relating to the vehicle in which the body was found. The grey Peugeot 407 did not have a taxi licence but did have a permit for use as a chauffeur-driven car, registered to Mario Farrugia. That permit expired in July 2022, said the witness.

Last to testify was a LESA official who exhibited two photographs taken by a speed camera in Triq Nutar Zarb in Attard. The black and white photographs had been taken during the early hours of 29 March 2022 and showed the victim’s Peugeot 407, the court was told.

At the end of the sitting today, the court sent the acts of the case together with the newly compiled evidence to the AG.

The case will continue in December.

Inspector Wayne Camilleri is prosecuting, assisted by Prosecutors Maria Schembri and Kayleigh Bonnett from the Office of the Attorney General.

Lawyer Shawn Zammit represented the accused during this sitting.

Lawyer Jacob Magri appeared for the family of the victim.