Mosta suspect had two pet cats at home [WATCH]

Police press conference 'Mosta cat killer' 2014

Police officers who raided the house of Nicholas Grech, who is to be arraigned in court over the crucifixion of dead animals in Mosta since 2011, said his parents’ home “was not the normal environment of the typical family.”

The police held a press conference at 3:30pm today explaining how they arrived at Grech, 37 of Mosta, after a series of 11 alleged killings of animals and their crucifixion over the past years created a local mystery that inspired both ridicule as well as puzzlement.

The police said they do not believe that the suspect was actually killing the animals. Grech had two pet cats at home.

Deputy Commissioner Raymond Zammit said that "patience had prevailed" after an investigation that lasted for nearly two and a half years.

It appears that the media coverage surrounding the case "had lifted the suspect's morale" and encouraged him to continue with the gruesome mock crucifixions, Zammit said.

"Throughout the investigation, the police had several suspects in mind and it was through a method of deduction that we honed in the suspect we have," Zammit said. The investigation is still ongoing, with police believing another suspect could be involved.

"After releasing video footage at the beginning of February, many persons had put forward their belief that the man in the video could have been our suspect," Zammit said.

Zammit, speaking alongside assistant commissioner Martin Sammut and police inspector Edmund Cuschieri, said that they had found "much evidence" during the raid carried out at the suspect's home, where he lived with his elderly parents.

Zammit said that a personal computer and some wiring were confiscated, amongst other things. The police believe that the wire could have been used to crucify the animals.

Zammit thanked the Mosta local council for their help throughout the investigation.

Arraignment

Grech will be arraigned today over the crucifixions that took place in Mosta.

Yesterday District Police raided the residence of the suspect, an Enemalta engineer, in Triq Glormu Cassar, Mosta, finding incriminating evidence in his computer, such as photos and other evidence related to the hangings. He was arrested and taken to the Mosta Police Station.

While MaltaToday is informed that the suspect's superiors at Enemalta had reprimanded him over the leak of an internal email about the arrival of a delegation from Shanghai Power Electric, to the blog of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Malta Independent columnist has told this newspaper that Grech "was not the source of the email."

Around 1am the man was taken to the lock-up at the Police Headquarters in Floriana. Sources told MaltaToday that the man used to go around with his bike to look for dead cats, not just around Mosta but even in other villages.

The first case goes back to 16 October 2011 and since then, the crucifixions took place intermittently on the 16th day of the month. There were a few months when no cases reported. The last case was last month when on the 3 February, 2014, when the police found a dog and cat hung upside down at the side and on the front of the Mosta Church.

A running theme throughout the crucifixions was a connection to Frangisku Buhagiar, an octogenarian who served time for the murder of his sister in the house they shared in Mosta. The first crucified cat was hung outside the house where the murder took place; the other crucified animals were all placed on religious statues and similar monuments. The last crucifixion was placed outside the Mosta parish church, but one of the two hung animals was placed on a statue of St Philip, which bears an inscription with Buhagiar’s name – who had donated the money for its restoration.

‘Killer’s notes’

Investigating officers had found a note placed in a cat's outer skin layer in the last crucifixion. On 3 February, a cat and a dog were found crucified at about 6:45am on the Mosta church parvis and in Triq il-Knisja, Mosta, respectively.

The note speaks about the alleged torment the perpetrator has been suffering for the past 48 years, perhaps caused by a love denied. The author wrote about hopes he once had, to find a woman who would both love and care for him and bear his children, but now claims to be tormented by “a demon of a woman” and accuses God of abandoning him.

Similar notes had been found in past cases.

The police has also released the CCTV footage showing an unidentified person hanging the cat and dog.

The 13-minute video, which collates CCTV footage from around the Mosta church area shows the alleged cat killer surveying the church parvis at around 1:28am. He is seen clambering over an external statue, possibly trying to identify a way of hanging the animal carcass.
Another CCTV camera, indicating the time of 4:23am, shows the culprit appearing behind the church and running to the street to survey the area once again. He is wearing a pair of blue jeans and black hoodie.