Fiona Govan
POLICE in Gibraltar have arrested a 33-year-old man in connection with the murder of Michael Montegriffo in 2018.
The 58-year-old was found lying on the ground outside his home at Gavino’s Dwellings on Prince Edward’s Road at 11am on Saturday July 7, 2018 and despite the best efforts by paramedics he died a few hours later at St Bernard’s Hospital.
Two post-mortems found that the injuries Montegriffo suffered were not consistent with having fallen from a height or being struck by a passing vehicle and a murder probe was launched.
Detectives believed that Montegriffo, a musician, who had lived in France and England for many years, was hit over the head four times by someone he probably knew well.
The arrest of a local man in Gibraltar on Tuesday morning comes a month after police launched a fresh public appeal for information in the hope of solving the three-year-old case.
Detectives released previously unseen CCTV footage in October capturing passers-by in the wider vicinity and asked anyone who identified themselves to come forward as a potential witness.
“In the past, police officers have concentrated on speaking to people who were in the immediate vicinity of Gavino’s Dwellings. It has now been decided to throw the net more widely and to interview anyone who might have been within several hundred metres of the scene,” the RGP said in a statement about the appeal on October 18.
“The RGP have released images of several people who were in the wider area at the time. Each of these individuals in an image is asked to make contact with the RGP.”
However, an RGP spokesperson confirmed the arrest did not come about as a direct result of the appeal.
“Today’s arrest is the result of detective work rather than from the response to the recent public appeal,” an RGP spokesperson told The Olive Press
“Investigations are ongoing and we would continue to urge anyone with information about the case to get in touch.”
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