'You overcame hardship to live the life you deserved' – brother’s tribute to murder victim

Sliema double murder victim Ivor Maciejowski’s family raising €22,000 for funeral and legal expenses 

Doctor turned banker Christian Pandolfino, 58, and art dealer Ivor Maciejowski, 30, were shot dead at their residence on Locker Street Sliema on 18 August at around 10:20pm
Doctor turned banker Christian Pandolfino, 58, and art dealer Ivor Maciejowski, 30, were shot dead at their residence on Locker Street Sliema on 18 August at around 10:20pm

The family of murder victim Ivor Maciejowski, killed in a burglary gone wrong in the Tigné home of his partner Christian Pandolfino, is raising £20,000 for the family’s funeral expenses.

The money will be used to support Maciejowski’s family’s legal expenses in the compilation of evidence against three men accused of killing him and Pandolfino, 58, on the night of 18 August. 

The accused are North Macedonian national Viktor Dragomanski, Daniel Muka from Albania, and another man. Dragomanksi attempted to escape over rooftops adjacent to the Blue Bay Hotel in Gzira when the police arrested him. 

Maciejowski, a UK national, was an art dealer who lived with Pandolfino, a doctor turned banker, in their Sliema home. The couple were shot dead at around 10:20pm after Pandolfino returned home from a family dinner.

Tributes from family and friends of Maciejowski painted a life of exceptional ambition and thirst for artistic discovery that tragically met an undeserving end.

Ivor Maciejowski with his brother Tom
Ivor Maciejowski with his brother Tom

“You overcame so much hardship to finally be able to live the life you deserved, a life of love, of laughter, a life so nourishing, a purely selfless life where those around you became the centre of your universe, a life tragically cut short,” Tommy Maciejowski said of his brother, who died at the age of 30, three years his junior. 

“You had an unrivalled character, so full of life yet so soft, you simply didn’t care what others thought, and neither did they once you disarmed them with your infectious smile and beautiful heart. You were unapologetically yourself, you lead with love, you lived to create, to learn, to better yourself at every turn. 

“You were a rock when I was at my lowest point and you put me back on track when I lost sight of what truly mattered. I simply cannot express in words how much I admire you, how much I respect you and how I would give anything to bring you back.... I love you. You are and always will be my hero.” 

Pandolfino’s body was found right behind the front door of his Tigné home, lying face down in a pool of blood. He had five bullet wounds. Some spent cartridges were found near the body. Maciejowski’s body was found on the landing of the stairs of the residence, with a bullet wound to the face. He had been on the top floor of the house when Pandolfino had returned home.