Swieqi murder: Police follow Russian lead

Investigators are following the lead that David Abela’s murderer could be a Russian national, MaltaToday has learnt.

Officers investigating the cold-blooded murder of the Swieqi businessman, 51, believe that the key to the mystery lies in his private life. The case has many loose ends and, whilst not excluding any possibilities, the police do not believe that the murder was the result of a burglary gone wrong.

The investigators have focused on the lead that Abela was killed because of personal troubles – which would also include his 29-year-old Russian partner, Irina Alexandrovna Micallef.

Sources have described the relationship between the two as having been “turbulent” of late.

According to multiple media reports, the couple had even filed police reports against each other. The woman had recently filed a report over domestic violence.

The woman, who has a son with Abela, walked into the macabre scene in their home in Triq il-Gizi, where she discovered her partner dead last Monday. He had been stripped naked and was bound and gagged. An autopsy showed that Abela died of asphyxia by suffocation, as he had his mouth taped with duct tape. He was also stabbed six times to his neck and torso.

Alexandrovna Micallef has been questioned multiple times by the police since her arrival from Dubai.

Likewise, investigators have spoken to Abela’s relatives, friends and colleagues with the hope that some new information could emerge on what could have happened in the early hours of Monday morning.

CCTV footage from the Swieqi residence suggests that the murderer was waiting for Abela to return home after a person was caught on camera breaking in. The body was found on Monday afternoon at five – upon Alexandrovna Micallef’s return from the airport – but experts believe he had been dead for some 12 hours.

His BMW was found parked in Pembroke next to the reverse osmosis plant, giving rise to questions on how Abela arrived home. The police had initially said that there had been no sign of forced entry, suggesting that the victim knew his killer. The police were also considering the possibility that they should be looking at more than one suspect.