Karl Stagno-Navarra Handcuffed and covering his face from photographers with a dark pull-over, Alan Galea, 31 from Marsaxlokk, was yesterday admitted to Corradino prison where he will be held under preventative custody after being charged with the murder of Anthony Borg, known as il-Bona.
Galea, a monti hawker was charged before Magistrate Miriam Hayman under heavy police escort in fear of possible retaliation by the deceased’s family.
Dressed in a brown jacket and a pair of jeans – the same clothes he was dressed last Sunday evening when he was arrested shortly after the murder – Alan Galea entered a “not guilty” plea but told Magistrate Hayman that he had been shot at.
While his lawyers Joe Giglio, Gianella Caruana Curran and Steve Tonna Lowell indicated that this is a genuine case of self-defence, the court upheld their request to have the victim’s body swabbed for gunshot residue and for the injuries of the accused to be examined and recorded.
The court also ordered that CCTV footage from a Bank of Valletta branch in the Marsaxlokk square where the murder happened should be preserved, as should recordings from the mobile phone providers since – the defence team argued – il-Bona had called the accused and his girlfriend a number of times.
Galea, who had bloodshot eyes, was remanded in custody while the court ordered that he must be visited only by his parents and sister.
The victim was known to the police and was investigated together with his brother on cases related to usury.
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