"[4] Mirjana Pukanić, Ivo's estranged wife with whom he was involved with in a very public scandal earlier in the year, was shocked to find out about the assassination.

Pukanić allegedly received two death threats after the end of the protection and promptly forwarded them to the police, but they failed to act upon them.

The redaction also condemned the prosecution office for investigating false accusations against Pukanić instead of concentrating on finding his April assailant.

She stated she has lived in a women's shelter for six months without money, and that she only asked Mesić to speed up the divorce process started by her.

[16] In a special news conference following the assassination, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader at first declined the possibility of introducing a state of emergency.

He called the killing an "assassination" as he vowed to fight Serbian mafia crime that threatens his country's attempt to join the EU.

[5][17] The announcement of the state of emergency was quickly followed by a release of a facial composite of the man from the crime scene and a large police operation, which resulted in 9 arrests in Zagreb and 20 in Rijeka during its first day.

[24] Pukanić's Nacional was known for uncovering cigarette smuggling schemes involving, among others, a Swiss-based Serbian tycoon Stanko Subotić and the current Prime Minister of Montenegro, Milo Đukanović.

[24] Italian Prosecutor Giuseppe Scelsi said that Ivo Pukanić and the murdered Montenegrin journalist Duško Jovanović of Dan, were among the most important witnesses in the investigation and that the Antimafia Commission will now have to archive the case.

[25] Pukanić, an influential and controversial person in Croatian politics, was already targeted in a murder attempt on April 9, 2008, in western downtown Zagreb, near Franjo Tuđman Square.

Pukanić crouched as the perpetrator pointed his gun at him and successfully dodged the bullet, which created a hole in the window of a nearby gift shop.

[26] A facial composite of the perpetrator, who was unmasked and wore a dark knitted cap, was publicly released five days after the attack.

[28] The police released information that the possible assassin is Sretko Kalinić, a wanted executioner of the recently dissolved Zemun clan of Serbian mafia,[29] who was in January 2008 sentenced in absentia to 40 years of prison in Serbia for eight assassinations and involvement in numerous other criminal activities including two abductions.

[31] The police have also talked to Mirjana Pukanić,[32] while Nacional editorial board refuted a claim that they planned to accuse her for the assassination.

"[35] On October 30 police arrested five suspects aligned with the Serbian mobster Sreten "Joca Amsterdam" Jocić for Pukanić's assassination.

The suspects were Robert and Luka Matanić, Amir Mafalani, Slobodan "Boban" Đurović and Milenko "Mića" Kuzmanović.

Mafalani allegedly obtained an apartment at the intersection of Petrinjska and Jurišićeva streets, a high-traffic location in the vicinity of the crime scene.

Matanić was assisted by Velimir "Žvaki" Žak in obtaining several stolen cars and the bomb-fitted motorcycle for Gudurić and Milovanović.