Court hears of man threatening to kill his wife if she doesn't give him stashed money

A 53-year old Naxxar man has denied intimidating and threatening to kill his wife, after allegedly discovering that she had stashed a large sum of money at home behind his back.

Inspector Sherona Buhagiar arraigned the 53-year-old man before magistrate Anne Marie Thake on Thursday. The inspector explained that the man’s wife had reported him to the Domestic Violence Unit on April 16, claiming that while opening the front door upon her return from work, the defendant had emerged from their house’s interconnecting garage, “demanding that she give him the €40,000 that she kept in the safe or he would kill her.” He then fled.

The man had only just found out that the money was being kept in a safe at home, explained the inspector, going on to say that the man had later phoned up the woman’s father and told him to expect to “hear something big.”

Inspector Buhagiar added that the wife had told the police that the defendant owned two firearms and was afraid that they could be used on her. After obtaining a warrant, the police had arrested the man in a midnight raid, also seizing his firearms for safekeeping.

Defence lawyers Franco Debono, Francesca Zarb and Adreana Zammit entered a plea of not guilty and requested bail. The defendant’s father was called to the witness stand, from where he confirmed to the court that the man would reside with him if granted bail.

Lawyer Keith Borg, assisting the woman as parte civile, declared that his client did not object to the man being released on bail, but wanted him to be ordered to stay away from the house and to be protected.

Bail was granted, secured by a €1,000 deposit and €4,000 personal guarantee. The defendant was ordered to sign a bail book three times a week and prohibited from communicating or approaching the alleged victim or her family members.
At the request of the parties, the court imposed a ban on the publication of the names of both the defendant and the alleged victim.