Half-brothers face separate murder charges, Galea charged with murder of three men

George Galea, 41 of St Julian's, is the second man to be arraigned in court charged with the murder of Mario Camilleri, 51 and his son Mario, 21 on Wednesday 17 July.

Galea is a former security officer who is currently unemployed. Aided by defence counsels Gianella De Marco and Gianluca Caruana Curran, Galea pleaded not guilty to the charge. He did not request bail.

The other man to be charged with the double murder is Jason Galea, the brother-in-law of Mario Camilleri, known as 'l-Imniehru', a former drug trafficker who spent 15 years in jail and who had also been charged with the bribery of a former chief justice and an appeals judge.

Jason Galea was today also charged, along with Ronald Urry, 49 of Paola, with the murder of Matthew Zahra, a taxi driver who was reported missing last year.

Galea and Urry are half-brothers. Jason Galea's defence counsel is Joe Giglio, while Ronald Urry was defended by Mario Mifsud Bonnici. They did not request bail.

The murder charges related to the taxi driver came following declarations made to the police during the Camilleri investigation, but also after a severed body part was found in the same crime scene as that where the Camilleris were found, half-buried, under a tree in a Qajjenza field, in Birzebbugia.

However, Assistant Police Commissioner Pierre Calleja said at a crime conference this afternoon that there was no scientific confirmation as yet as to whether the remains belonged to taxi driver Matthew Zahra, who disappeared in August 2012, or those of Terence Gialanze, who was also reported missing in November 2012.

According to declarations given to the police, Zahra died of gunshot wounds but the weapon involved in the murder has not been traced.

Another person is expected to be charged with the Camilleris' double murder.

Calleja could not confirm reports that Camilleri senior died of a heart attack, before being shot. Camilleri died before his son, in an area in Marsaxlokk. Camilleri junior was killed in the Qajjenza area in Birzebbugia.

He also said that the killing of the Camilleris could not be connected to any previous murders taking place between rival gangs.

Camilleri junior was found to have suffered multiple stab wounds before being killed with a gunshot. The knife used in the stabbing was discovered in the area. However, the firearm has still not been found.

A gun that had been previously confiscated and suspected in the murder, did not match the calibre of the weapon that was used on Camilleri jnr.

When asked about any new developments on investigations relating to the disappearance of Terence Gialanze, Calleja said investigations were still ongoing.