Pukanic and Franjic were killed by a bomb outside the Nacional building in central Zagreb in October 2008. Six accused are on trial in Zagreb and another three in Belgrade.

Adrinek said that the sixth defendant, Slobodan Djurovic, had given money to the mother of the first defendant, Robert Matanic, while he had been in prison in Serbia.

Prosecutors from the Office for the Prevention of Corruption and Organised Crime (USKOK) claim that Djurovic served as a connection between the assassins and Sreten Jocic, who allegedly put out a contract on Pukanic. Jocic, also known as Joca Amsterdam, is on trial in Belgrade for the same crime.

Adrinek said he had known Matanic since childhood, adding that he had driven his mother about 30 times to Sremska Mitrovica where Matanic had been serving a prison term, and that he first met Djurovic in the prison restaurant there.

The witness said that Djurovic had given Matanic's mother 5,000 euros to cover the costs of her visits. He added that Djurovic had given him the same amount in Belgrade later on, which money Adrinek then gave to Matanic's mother.

Adrinek said that after Pukanic's assassination he had accidentally met Matanic in a hotel in Zagreb's eastern suburb of Sesvete, on which occasion Matanic told him he found it strange that he had not been summoned for a police interview, considering his reputation.

Matanic's girlfriend Josipa Maric also gave testimony on Monday, saying that she had visited Matanic while he had been in prison and that Tomislav Marijanovic, the key witness of the murder, had driven her there twice.

Maric said she did not know who had paid Matanic's lawyer nor that he had planned to escape from prison nor that Marijanovic had been raising money for Matanic. The prosecution claims that Matanic was getting money from Djurovic through her.

A third witness who testified today, Tomislav Aleksic, said he had purchased Matanic's holiday cottage for 9,000 euros while Matanic had been in prison. He added that he bought the property from Tomislav Marijanovic, who had power of attorney.

Aleksic said he had met Matanic after he was released from prison and told him that Marijanovic had fraudulently sold him his holiday cottage. He stressed that Matanic had not threatened him.

When asked by Matanic if anyone had tried to talk him into testifying against him, Aleksic said the police had told him they had information that Matanic had tried to kill him and that he could formally report him.

The next hearing was set for Tuesday.