“It cannot be that a life is lost and her family is denied the truth,” he said in a social media statement
Ghirxi (48) was found dead in an apartment in Birkirkara, a town about 7km west of Valletta, at around 2am on August 2 after allegedly being fatally stabbed by her ex-partner, Irishman Edward William Johnston (50).
He was later killed by Maltese police on a beach in the seaside town of St Julian’s after a three-hour standoff.
On Monday, Maltese politician Bernard Grech backed calls made by Ghirxi’s family for an independent inquiry into whether her murder could have been prevented.
“It cannot be that a life is lost and her family is denied the truth,” he said in a social media statement.
“The (Nationalist Party) joins Nicolette Ghirxi’s family’s call for an independent inquiry to find out what more could have been done by the State to prevent Nicolette’s death.
“It is only by conducting an independent inquiry and then fully committing to implementing all the necessary changes that we can ensure things improve and other women are protected before it is too late.”
Ghirxi’s former lawyer Joseph Borda and two members her family told Times of Malta this week that they wanted an inquiry “to establish the facts leading to her tragic death”.
“Nicolette’s family have a right to know what led to her murder, and if her death could have been avoided,” he said.
Edward Johnston
“This is the only way we can identify the state’s failings and how it failed Nicolette”.
Ms Ghirxi’s family have said Johnston began harassing his former partner when she ended a two-year relationship between them. They alleged he ran a number of fake social media accounts which were used to harass and slander Ms Ghirxi.
She filed police reports on two occasions with regard to her former partner, Maltese police confirmed.
There were no previous reports of violence between the two but in April, Ms Ghirxi filed two harassment reports against Johnston after receiving some emails from him when they broke up.
However, she decided against carrying out a risk assessment, telling police and social welfare officials she did not believe she was at risk.
She filed another report of harassment in May, again linked to emails. At the time, police established that Johnston was not in Malta, Mr Gafa said, describing the emails as being harassment but not of a threatening nature.
In July, the victim again contacted police about a number of slanderous social media posts about her and said she suspected Johnston. Days before her death, she informed police by email that Johnston may be in Malta.
Sources told the Times of Malta that Mr Johnston had gone to the Hilton Hotel in St Julian’s at around 11.30pm on August 1 and asked for a drink at the hotel’s Vista Lobby Lounge, overlooking the sea.
He was told by the bartender that the bar was closed. The staff member later left the bar for a short moment to check with colleagues.
Upon their return, Johnston pulled out a gun and said: “Get me a beer or I’ll shoot you”. He left the hotel and is believed to have jumped down to the ground from a nearby roof.
Police were alerted when they received a report of a man in St Julian’s wielding a gun and saying he had murdered someone.
Police commissioner Angelo Gafa told a news conference earlier this week that Johnston told police he had murdered a woman.
A police negotiator was brought in and two police teams were deployed, one to Birkirkara, where they found the woman’s apartment door locked and had to break in to find the victim dead.
The other unit was deployed to the Hilton. Police cordoned off the area behind the Hilton as Johnston was found on the rocks behind the hotel, the police commissioner has said.
Johnston jumped into the sea and pointed a gun at his head and despite police negotiators descending on the scene, he leapt at one of the officers, resulting in him being shot. He was transported to Mater Dei Hospital and was later confirmed dead, Mr Gafa confirmed.
“When he said those words and pointed the gun at the police, he knew he was provoking them to shoot him, because that is what police do when faced with a threat like that, all the while knowing he had nothing to fire back with,” the source said.
