A senior police officer had overheard lawyer Carmel Chircop in a heated conversation on his mobile days before he was gunned down, a court heard on Tuesday. Emanuel Scicluna, a sergeant major stationed at the Birkirkara police station at the time of Chircop’s murder in 2015, testified about his chance encounter with the lawyer while on his way to a shopping mall in Sliema on a Saturday morning. Scicluna knew Chircop by sight since the lawyer was the president of a band club in the town where the officer spent his working days. On that off-day, Scicluna was out shopping when he spotted Chircop, wearing a white shirt, visibly “very angry” as he spoke on his mobile. The lawyer acknowledged the officer’s presence and the two men briefly greeted each other. But as Scicluna walked past Chircop, he heard him say angrily, “when are you going to give me the payments? You’ve been telling me this for a long time.” [Ilek tgħidli dan il-kliem]. The following week, days after that encounter, Scicluna heard about the Birkirkara murder and soon confirmed that the victim was the same man he had met at Tigne. He told the investigating inspector all he recalled. Chircop was found gunned down in...