Joseff Rivas murder: Victim served three prison sentences for violent crime

A police inspector has confirmed in court that Joseff Rivas, who was stabbed to death in Paceville in December 2022, had been jailed three times for violent crimes.

This emerged as the compilation of evidence against the three men accused of killing Rivas, who has been described in court as a member of a Romanian organised crime group, specialising in the sex trade.

Inspector Kurt Zahra testified before Magistrate Astrid May Grima on Thursday, as the compilation of evidence against Ilie Constantin, Ionut Iulian Tanase, and Dan-Andrei Tanase continued.

The three men stand accused of the murder of Joseff Rivas who died after being stabbed multiple times in Paceville on 5 December 2022, as a result of what is thought to be a dispute over revenue from a prostitution racket.

Inspector Zahra told the court that the Maltese police requested and subsequently received information relating to Rivas’ previous convictions from both Romanian and British police forces.

Rivas was jailed for 27 months in 2007, for three years in 2010 and for four years in 2017 for robbery and grievous bodily harm, said the inspector. That list did not include pending cases, Zahra said, but added that he had found no alerts associated with the victim’s name in the police database.

The inspector’s testimony comes after the defence made repeated demands for the production of evidence showing the victim’s involvement in criminal activity, aimed towards building a case around self-defence.

Amongst the other witnesses who testified  today was a police officer from the Rapid Intervention Unit who had been dispatched to the scene of the stabbing. He described how he had found Rivas lying on the pavement, unconscious and bleeding from wounds to his neck and back.

The case, presided over by Magistrate Astrid May Grima, continues.

The men are being prosecuted by lawyers Kaylie Bonnet and Darlene Grima from the Office of the Attorney General, together with Police Inspectors Kurt Zahra and Brian Xuereb.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Charmaine Cherrett, Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri are defence counsel.