‘My brother wanted to murder us all’, says sister of man to face three murder charges

Mario Camilleri, the former criminal convict found murdered and buried alongside his son Mario junior, had suspected that his brother-in-law wanted to get rid of him weeks before he was lured to the Birzebbugia field where the couple were killed.

Jason Galea, the brother of Mario Camilleri's wife Mona, will today face charges for the murder of Matthew Zahra, a taxi driver believed to have lent Galea money.

He will also face charges alongside George Galea, for the murder of the Camilleris.

Zahra disappeared in August 2011, but remains of a leg found at the crime scene where Camilleri and his son were buried, is believed belongs to him. DNA test results have still not yet been publicised.

"Weeks before he was murdered, Mario had suspected Jason wanted to get rid of him. Jason owed Mario, Mario junior and myself tens of thousands in debt," Mona Camilleri said in an interview to Illum newspaper on Sunday.

Camilleri also said that their family dog, which had been in their home for 11 years, disappeared without a trace just a week before the murder.

Mario Camilleri, known as 'l-Imniehru' - a nickname unoriginally inspired from the size of his nose - had just been released from prison after serving over 12 years on drug trafficking and bribery charges. It was his notorious appeal case in 2002 that cost the careers of former chief justice Noel Arrigo and judge Patrick Vella, who were found guilty of bribery in a bid to reduce Camilleri's sentence.

According to Mona Camilleri, her brother Jason had goaded her husband into going to the Qajjenza field where he claimed he had spotted a third party "burying gold and money" in the field.

"My brother wanted all of us to meet him at the field at 4am. When we didn't accept, we arranged so that we go the next day at 9am. Mario went on the spot, but he changed his mind and turned away," Camilleri said.

"My brother wanted to kill us all and tell everyone that we emigrated," Camilleri said.

On the day of the murder, her son Mario left the home and rode into the vehicle of the man whom Galea claimed he had seen bury money in the Qajjenza field.

Her son Mario was later killed with 34 knife wounds. "It wasn't enough for then, they had to shoot him too... I will only rest when my brother is sentenced to jail for life," the mother said.

Her husband Mario died of a heart attack on the same day in another location, but was then shot by his murderers and buried in the same Qajjenza field.