Charged with Marsascala murder, weapons' theft

45 year-old Joe Cutajar from Marsascala, known as 'Il-Lion' was remanded in custody following his arraignment tonight for the murder of  32 year-old Kevin Gatt in a shoot-out in Marsascala last Thursday evening.

Cutajar - who claimed to be unemployed is a known character to the police - was interrogated at length over the shooting, which also led to the serious injury of 32 year-old Stephen Zammit, who remains critical at Mater Dei Hospital's Intensive Therapy Unit.

Cutajar - who stood motionless in the dock and heard the long list of charges which were read by CID Inspector and Homicide Department Chief Keith Arnaud - was also charged with Zammit's attempted murder, illegal possession of a weapon, and also for a robbery committed in April 2010 in Zejtun, where a number of weapons were stolen.

Lawyer Arthur Azzopardi who appeared for Cutajar did not contest his client's arrest.

MaltaToday is informed that during interrogation, Cutajar claimed 'self defence', insisting that he was ambushed by Gatt and Zammit who approached his garage in a stolen Hyundai car with the scope of killing him. In all, nine shots were fired, six of which hit the two victims. 

Two hand guns were also elevated from the scene of the crime.

According to senior police sources, the underground garage beneath a new block of apartments in Guzeppi Lanzon Street, Marsascala was under police surveillance for some weeks, where a number of known criminals held regular meetings.

Cutajar was said to be among the suspects interrogated by police over the daring heist at the Casino di Venezia in 2010, when armed robbers had made off with a large sum of money and fled the scene with a power boat.