Man held after admitting to murder of Dutch woman

A man believed to be the former boyfriend of a Dutch woman found dead in Santa Venera early yesterday morning is being held in custody after admitting to her murder, police sources said yesterday.

The woman, identified as Dutch national Shannon Mak, was found dead lying between two parked cars on the side of Triq il-Mastrudaxxi at 6.20am with her throat slit.

The woman, around 30 years old, had been seen in Qawra a few hours earlier.

In a statement, the police said they are questioning a Dutch man as part of their investigations. Later sources told The

Malta Independent that the man, who lives in the area where the woman was found dead, admitted to the killing.

In its official statement, the police said that she was killed with a pointed and sharp instrument (i.e. a knife).

The woman was found wearing a form of wristband which indicated that she worked or was associated with an iGaming company on the island.

It is not known whether the woman was killed on site or whether she was killed somewhere else and then left on the road where she was found. One person who lives in the area told

The Malta Independent that he passed by at around 1am and the body had not been there at the time.

Other residents said that they had heard no commotion during the night, and that the first indication that they got that something was wrong was when they saw police cars arriving at the scene.

An inquiry is being held, led by Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech.

Inspector Kurt Zahra from the Homicide Squad is leading the investigation along with Inspector Robert Vella from the Hamrun police station.