CCTV footage demolishes accused’s version on Mgarr murder

Footage from a CCTV camera in the square near where 39-year-old beautician and mother of one Christine Sammut was murdered in Mgarr on December 11, 2010, has revealed the man accused with her murder driving next to her van and shooting her through his car window.

The footage contradicts the story given to the police by accused Kenneth Gafà, when interrogated soon after the murder.

Gafà stands charged with the wilful homicide of his former girlfriend, who was found dead inside her van with a shot to her side and neck.

Moments after his arrest, the once popular horse-jockey had admitted to shooting his former girlfriend in Mgarr, but had never intending to kill her.

Gafà had told police that he had shot at Sammut's van after she allegedly tried to run him over, and thought that she was accompanied by a member of her family.

Giving evidence before Magistrate Antonio Vella, Police Inspector Daniel Zammit said that Gafà told him he feared Sammut's family, who allegedly used to threaten him.

He claimed to have been overcome by fear and shot at the van without aiming.

But footage collected from the CCTV camera demolished Gafà's story, as it it showed him arriving on site and shooting towards Sammut's van from inside his own van.

The murder weapon was never found.

Gafà told police that he was in a 15-month relationship with Christine Sammut, but things were turning sour between six months before the murder.

The Inspector told the court that both Gafà and Sammut had filed a series of reports against each other at the Rabat Police Station, and things between them degenerated after Sammut told the accused that she started to date somebody else and that the relationship between them was over.

Gafà told investigators that he owed money to Sammut's father and brother and they used to threaten him many times so that he would pay up, after the victim had stopped dating him.

When asked why he had turned up in Mgarr where the victim was, despite the relationship being over, Gafà said that it was a "coincidence" that he went there, because that day he decided to go around the island in search of wooden pallets to break and use the wood for fire.

Inspector Zammit told the Court that Gafà all evidence shows that Gafà had intentionally driven to Mgarr to commit the murder, and his version of the victim allegedly trying to run him over does not hold any truth.

"He wanted to kill her, because the footage we have from a CCTV camera shows Gafà driving his van next to the victim's and fired two shots from behind the wheel," Inspector Zammit said, adding that it was not true that Gafà got out of his van and Sammut tried to run him over.

Bail

Kenneth Gafà's lawyers Joseph Giglio, Giannella de Marco, Gianluca Caruana Curran and Stephen Tonna informed the court that although their client has been granted bail during a previous sitting, he remained in jail because the deposit imposed was too high and he could not afford it.

They asked the court to review the conditions for Gafà to be granted bail after spending almost 23 months in prison under preventative arrest, which is longer than the 20 months at law which is the maximum a person could be held under preventative custody.

Last August, Gafà was granted bail against a deposit if €15,000 and a personal guarantee of €25,000.