Estranged husband jailed for life for murdering ex-wife's boyfriend

Martino Gatt, the man accused of murdering his estranged wife's partner outside a church in Pembroke back in 2007, has been handed a life imprisonment term.

During court proceedings this afternoon, jurors found Gatt, 65 of Mosta, guilty of murdering Louis Ellul by seven votes to two.

The case goes back to 2 December 2007 when the accused shot 34-year-old Louis Ellul three times in the abdomen with a semi-automatic weapon.

Ellul, who at the time had been living with Martino Gatt's ex-wife and his children, died on the spot.

Following Ellul's murder, a nationwide search for Martino Gatt ensued with police later arrested him while he was drinking a beer in Siggiewi.

During investigations in 2007, Gatt had recounted how he waited in his car outside Pembroke Church before shooting his ex-wife's partner.

Gatt had said that prior to producing his concealed weapon and subsequently shooting Ellul, he had ordered his children to move away from Ellul.

In its decree the court, presided by Magistrate Michael Mallia, found Gatt guilty of murder, of the possession of a firearm and handed him a life-imprisonment term.

The jury also found Gatt guilty by six votes against three of slight injuring a 14-year-old girl who was injured by pellets and of firing in a residential area.

Simon Micallef Stafrace was legal aid.