Imniehru murders: father shot in the head twice, son stabbed and shot minutes later

Defence lawyer Gianluca Caruana Curran this morning complained at court that the prosecution in the case against George and Jason Galea, accused of the murder of Mario Camilleri and his son Mario, had failed to summon civilian witnesses, five months after instituting the case.

"Such behaviour is leading to the accused being denied bail," the young lawyer argued.

George and Jason Galea are charged with the murder of Mario Camilleri 'l-Imniehru' and his son Mario Camilleri Jnr. The killing took place last July.

Defence lawyer Joe Giglio backed up Dr Caruana Curran's claim saying that the request for bail can never be upheld prior to the civilian witnesses taking the stand. The court had previously ordered that Alfredo Attard and Leli Farrugia be summoned for today's sitting.

Prosecuting inspector Fabian Fleuri informed the court that the day's witnesses were again only police officers. The inspector held that the civilian witnesses were not summoned due to another ongoing investigation. The police are now close to concluding this investigation, however Alfredo Attard was said to have a medical condition and that the Attorney General was considering what position to take about Attard.

Police witnesses said that in his statement, accused George Galea said that he had parked his Mercedes vehicle near the Christ Redeemer niche in Marsaxlokk, where he waited for Jason Galea to turn up with Mario Camilleri Snr. "We had agreed that I would accompany him as a security," Galea had told sergeant Jeffrey Gerada and Inspector Michael Mallia.

George Galea said he went off with Galea and Camilleri in a Pegueot vehicle. Galea pulled outside the drive-in of a residence and left Camilleri with George Galea. Pulling out a firearm, Camilleri warned George Galea he would should Jason Galea, his brother-in-law, if he was up to foul play.

The details George Galea gave to the investigators were corroborated by Jason Galea. When officers interrogated him, the latter recounted how he had taken Mario Camilleri snr. to a notary who lived in Triq Patri Terzjani, Marsaxlokk, to deal with assets that were under a garnishee order.

As Jason Galea returned to the car he shot Camilleri twice in the head. As blood spurted all over the inside of the car, the two conspirators reclined the passenger seat in order to cover the dead body, and then drove off to a field in Birzebbugia. The corpse of Camilleri was lowered into a shallow grave in the field that had already been dug out, and Galea instructed George Galea to wash the blood off the Pegueot.

While helping him to cover the body, George Galea demanded €8,500 from Jason Galea, and even demanded that he make him a shareholder in his company.

Moments late, Camilleri's son Mario arrived on the scene where he was dropped off by eyewitness Emanuel Farrugia.

At this point, George Galea took Camilleri by the throat while Jason Galea started hitting him with a loose tile lying nearby. Jason Galea then asked George to retrieve his handgun from inside a room in the field, and shoot Camilleri.

Galea refused, leading Jason Galea to repeatedly stab Mario Camilleri with a knife, then finishing him off with two shots.

The two men loaded the son in a wheelbarrow and dropped the body next to that of his father's. Galea then called his sister Mona Camilleri, the wife of Mario Camilleri snr, demanding that she meet him so that she could give her information about her husband and her son.

George Galea drove Jason to Swieqi using the Pegueot, and then went to Marsaxlokk where he had left his Mercedes vehicle. The two met again in Marsaxlokk and went to Zabbar, where they set the Pegueot ablaze using petrol George Galea had bought using Jason Galea's money.

During his interrogation, Jaosn Galea told police about his debts with the Camilleris, whom he accused of blackmailing him with a photo they had of him with another women. "I paid Mario Camilleri jnr €500 every month not to show that photo to my wife."

The blackmail and threats escalated to the point where Jason Galea even filed a police report against the Camilleris.