A Colombian man accused of dismembering a body and then throwing it in the sea stuffed inside a suitcase was formally charged with murder yesterday. Prosecutors said before Magistrate Astrid May Grima in court, Andres Leonardo Gamboa Duran, 43, killed Raoul Eduardo Rei, whose remains were found in a suitcase at sea. Duran has denied the charge, insisting he only dismembered Rei’s body after finding him dead in an apartment in Msida.
During the sitting, a police sergeant confirmed testimony given in open court about how two children on a paddle boat found the suitcase and brought it ashore. Concerned members of the public opened it and, suspecting human remains inside, called the police.
The court also went through photographic evidence from two apartments in Msida connected with the crime. Having viewed the evidence, the magistrate declared that there was sufficient prima facie evidence on which to indict Duran and send him to trial.
Duran was arrested after a two-day manhunt by police. A murder charge had initially not been presented because it had not as yet been ascertained just how Rei had died. However, an autopsy later suggested that suffocation was the likely cause, though it was not conclusive.
No further details were revealed in court regarding why police upgraded the charges, but Inspector Kurt Colombo Zahra is expected to testify on the investigation’s findings in the next sitting, scheduled for 13th March.
Appearing for the prosecution were Wayne Camilleri, Kurt Zahra, Dejan Darmanin, and Kaylie Bonnett, while Yanica Barbara Sant appeared for Duran.
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