Murdered man knew of imminent plot on his life

The man who was shot dead in Marsa on Friday knew there was an imminent plot on his life, police sources told The Sunday Times of Malta. Paul Degabriele was known to police as a ‘bad apple’ with extensive knowledge of firearms, partly through a short career in the Armed Forces where he earned his nickname: is-Suldat (the soldier). He was also known to be a tough character, but well-placed sources said Mr Degabriele knew there would be an imminent attempt on his life and made it apparent to people close to him that he was fearful. “It says a lot when a fellow like is-Suldat looks that scared,” the source said. The theory is that his murder was payback in a tit-for-tat game that has been going on for some years. Just last December, Mr Degabriele had been arrested in connection with the murder of 45-year-old Joseph Cutajar il-Lion in Mosta. Two months earlier, Mr Degabriele had escaped an attempt on his life when he was alerted about a man acting suspiciously next to his Toyota pick-up truck and a car bomb was discovered. He was not so lucky on Friday, when he was shot dead at close range in broad daylight just outside Sammy’s Bar, near the Enemalta Customer Care office in...