Santa Lucija murder suspect used dead man’s bank cards

Superintendent Keith Arnaud has told a court that mobile phone location data placed murder suspect Samir Almiri at the crime scene around the time when pensioner Victor McKeon was killed last March.

McKeon died of head trauma after being choked, Magistrate Joe Mifsud was told this morning.

The mobile phone belonging to McKeon started to mirror 35-year-old Samir Almiri‘s movements for some time after the murder, suggesting that the two devices were being carried together. Every time McKeon’s credit card was used, an SMS was sent to him, which triggered the localisation data, explained Arnaud. ATM and CCTV camera footage from the areas showed Almiri alone while using the deceased’s bank card and eliminated the possibility of McKeon having been with him at the time.

Almiri’s mobile was located in Sta Lucia on the 14th and 15th March briefly. At this time pathologists say, the victim was already dead in his apartment. Bus tickets found in the victim’s home were traced to have been used by Almiri, thanks to CCTV cameras installed on the buses.

A 15-page timeline of the suspect’s movements was drawn up by the police, putting together all the relevant pictures of the accused they had recovered from various sources.

On March 16, Almiri had caught a one-way flight to Morocco but had immigration trouble there and was due to be sent back to Malta. He was arrested after being extradited to the island in December.

A grey striped t-shirt seen to be worn by the accused in some footage was recovered from the crime scene, Arnaud added. Almiri’s torn up passport and empty wallet were also recovered by the police and exhibited in court this morning.

Two mobile phones were found by the police, he explained. One, a Nokia, was registered and used by Almiri and an Allview with another SIM card belonged to the victim.

The superintendent also described Almiri’s questioning by the police. He had said that he had been sleeping at Mckeon’s apartment on and off but hadn’t gone there for 2 months after being threatened by McKeon’s brother. He had said that the victim had given him his mobile phone to call him from it.
But after being confronted by the evidence against him, he accused the police of photoshopping him into the photographic evidence and with fabricating the rest of the evidence against him.

Experts had reported that Almiri’s prints were found on the garbage bag containing the victim’s body, but he insisted that he had probably just touched the bags at home sometime before they had been used to shroud the body. DNA from the house matched the victim and a third party who turned out to be the accused said, Arnaud.

This notwithstanding, Almiri denied everything, said the superintendent.

Defence lawyer Leontine Calleja asked about the localisation data’s accuracy. Arnaud said the data patterns were more important than the precise location. In addition, the door was not forced open and only the accused had keys, he explained.

Neighbours had reported shouting and fighting sounds from the apartment on some occasions, he added.

Lawyer George Camilleri from the office of the Attorney General asked if there were any police reports between the two men. Arnaud said there weren’t but that two years previously McKeon had reported being robbed and beaten by unidentified men who came in through a window. There was no report by the victim against Samir or anyone else, he confirmed, adding that Samir lived there at the time.

The case continues on 23 December.

Inspector Wayne Camilleri from the homicide squad was also assisting Arnaud.