Update 2 | Gozo murder jury adjourned to Monday

David Zerafa, charged with the murder of lawyer Dr Michael Grech on 24 May 2004 will today face the prosecution's final submissions.

The incident happened outside the victim's residence in St Mary's Street, Marsalforn. A year later two inmates at St Michael's Ward, gave details to the police about the murder. Steve Spiteri and Rodney Vella claimed it was David Zerafa himself who admitted the crime with them.

The defence, led by Dr Malcolm Mifsud, yesterday declared there are no more witnesses. The last persons to take the witnesses' stand were Emanuel and Geoffrey Zerafa, the brothers of the accused.

Dr Phillip Farrugia Galea started the prosecution's final address. He stressed the duty of the jurors is not to question the missing pieces.

"You must analyse the evidence at hand and reach a verdict", he said.

The prosecution reiterated there will always be better ways to run an investigation however this does not lessen the relevance and reliability of the evidence presented.

The victim's brother and the registrar of the gozo court both testified that Dr Grech was the lawyer of the accused's wife. Rodney Vella and Steve Spiteri both told the police that Zeraf showed hatred towards the victim.

Under oath Vella told the jurors that when in custody the accused  swore at the deceased and his tomb. Zerafa also held the lawyer responsible for the demise of his family.

Forensic experts confirmed the use of a firearm and a heavy object. The autopsy revealed that Dr Grech was shot on the left side of his neck. The final blow was received following blunt force trauma compatible with a strike of a baseball bet.

The night of the murder was described by all witnesses as being a windy and stormy night. The wind was so noisy that Dr Grech's family did not hear the lawyer park his car in the garage.

The accused told fellow inmates Rodney Vella and Steve Spiteri how he and an accomplice were wearing boiler suits, balaclavas and gloves when they waited for their victim at the top of the third floor stairs.

This was corroborated by other witnesses who claimed to have seen two hooded men wearing boiler suits in St Mary Street on the same night. The hooded men were picking documents from the street and carried a long object wrapped in cloth.

Albeit grievously injured, and with a bullet in his lung, Dr Grech attempted to flee the scene. The aggressor believed that he had missed and chased the vicitm. While serving time at St Michael's Ward,Zerafa told inmate Vella he had missed when he shot Dr Grech.

The aggressors chased their victim to Triq ix-Xtut. They caught up with him and after beating Dr Grech, the victim lost consciousness. His glasses fell to the ground and were later found in a blood pool.

The abrasions on the chest of the deceased proved that the man was dragged face down to a garage under construction. Forensic experts and pathologists explained to the jurors how the lawyer's skull was smashed. An 8x10 section of the skull was missing and brain tissue was visible.

David Zerafa allegedly told Steve Spiteri the victim had ran up a dead end street. When they caught up with him, the lawyer told Zerafa he had recognised him. Zerafa also gave the inmates details of how the unconscious body was dragged into the garage and how he finished him off.

When a car drove by, the accused and his accomplice first hid in garages, then left the scene. A Gozitan man told the court how together with his girlfriend he was driving in St Mary Street Marsalforn, where he saw two hooded man who tried to hide when the car passed by.

Contrary to what was implied by the defence, Rodney Vella was arrested by Inspector Pullicino and did not volunteer information to the police. The defence claimed that the information Spiteri and Vella gave to the police was public knowledge as it was reported in the newspapers.

This was not the case as no one was aware of details such as the axe found in the room and the existence of a room belonging to he accused at Ramla l-Hamra. When the police confronted the accused with the informants, he claimed he was joking and bluffing.

Following the information received from Spiteri and Vella, the police spoke to the victim's widow, Maria Grech. She was shown a collage of images and she immediately recognised the eyes of David Zerafa.

An identity parade was held at the police headquarters and again the widow recognised Zerafa as the person who she saw outside her residence on the night of the murder.

Being killed for doing your job is heinous

In the dock, with his jacket all buttoned up, the accused David Vella known as 'il-Pixka', reclined in his chair.

Describing witness Rodney Vella as a success of the Matese judicial system, Dr Farrugia Galea told the jurors to remember the behavior of the accused when Vella was giving evidence.

"After three days relaxed in the dock, when Vella took the stand, Zerfa got up and assumed a threatening stance", the prosecution held. 

"No matter how hard the defence tried to jeopardize Vella's evidence, the witness explained how he was now a reformed person. Admitting to a past imbued with drug abuse, Vella thanked the court of giving a chance to reform his ways.

The lawyer said he has paid his dues to society and is today a clean man. On the witness stand Vella explained how he stands to gain nothing from passing information to the police as he has no outstanding cases.

"I'm simply doing my duty towards society and the Republic of Malta", the witness said.

Turning to the final witnesses of the defence, Dr Farrugia Galea lashed at the Zerafa brothers.

Giving identical evidence the two brothers swore that the accused had been at home on the night of the murder. They insisted that the lock's bolt on the main door of their residence is so loud they would have heard David leaving the house.

The accused himself had told the police that he was asleep at the family house. However a year later David Zerafa told the same officers that on 24 May he was on a fishing boat in Marsaxlokk.

The lawyer from the AG's office urged jurors to look at the evidence using 'buon sense'. A person known as Pawlu il-Hikka was mentioned by the accused as his accomplice. The police had included Il-Hikka in the identification parades however the Grech widow immediately identified Zerafa.

The defence claimed that the prosecution did not put forward the best evidence.

The widow was not asked to identify the accused in court. "I do not want to waste your time", the prosecution told the jurors,"Mrs Grech repeatedly identified the accused from police photos and an identification parade. She also recognised the accused when she was shown images in court".

Dr Farrugia Galea explained to the jurors that the testimony of both Rodney Vella and Steve Spiteri is legally considered as an admission by Zerafa and not hearsay evidence. The law states that anything an inmate says can be used as evidence. Zerafa of his own free will had given an admission about the Marsalforn murder.

The prosecution concluded that a homicide is always a horrible crime, but when one is murdered for doing his duty it is heinous. Dr Grech was killed because he was the legal representative of David Zerafa's estranged wife. He urged the jurors to pour over the presented evidence and draw their verdict.

Defence update

Inspector Chris Pullicino was the first witness in the compilation of evidence against David Zerafa. The defence questioned the time line of the investigations.

"If Zerafa spoke to Vella on 6 July how could Inspector Pullicino say that on the same day he had information that the accused spoke to various inmates about the case", the defence asked.

Rodney Vella testified that on his first night at St Michael's Ward, Zerafa simply told him that he had been arrested in connection with the murder.

The inspector claimed that he had given him details of their conversation. "This creates a huge question mark and you should look if it constitutes reasonable doubt", the defence told the jurors. Dr Mifsud argued that the certificate of credibility of the prosecution's star witness, Rodney Vella, is a fraud.

The defence continued that the natural conclusion is that the evidence does not prove the accused's admission with Vella beyond reasonable doubt.

While not implying that the widow's evidence is tainted, Dr Mifsud held that the eyes are not a reliable means of identification. Being under shock makes it impossible for someone to identify a person.

Furthermore the widow did not identify the accused in court and Dr Mifsud challenged the identification of brown eyes without any other particular marks.

The prosecution attempted to riddle the testimony of the accused's brother with doubt. The defence told jurors the accused was a separated man living in his family home in Nadur.

This corroborated the statement given by the accused to the police when the day after the murder Zerafa told them that he was asleep at home. A year later the accused told the police he was in Marsaxlokk on the night of the incident. The variation in statements could be attributed to lack of memory the defence lawyer argued.

Dr Mifsud challenged the lack of scientific evidence. He questioned why the investigators had not done a gun shot residue test on the accused. The defence also demanded why no DNA test was carried out on the droplets found in a vehicle. The luggage booth of the vehicle contained a piece of wood stained with blood. The blood type of the vehicle's owner and the victim matched the blood found in the car. However the results of the DNA were not followed up.

While in other cases cars are impounded for months and commercial outlets closed for years due to investigations, the contents of the victim's suitcase were returned after a number of days.

The defence agreed with the prosecution that the aggressors collected the documents in the street as to eliminate any links the lawyer had to them.

However, if the accused wanted to kill Dr Grech because he believed he had a relationship with his wife, then he had no reason to collect the documents.

Dr Malcom Mifsud contested that the accused was on the scene of crime. If the jurors do not find David Zerafa guilty of murder then they cannot find him guilty of other charges.

Subsequently a guilty verdict entails guilt on all charges. Unless proved beyond reasonable doubt the accused should not be found guilty.

The defence describe the case as a major medical operation which impacts the rest of society and the relatives of the accused. A verdict should be based on the evidence and not on emotions.

"You cannot afford to make mistakes when delivering your verdict," Dr Mifsud concluded.

Judge Lawrence Quintano adjourned the trial for next Monday when he will deliver the closing address.

Dr Phillp Farrugia Galea and Dr Maurizio Cordina are prosecuting for the Attorney General. Dr Malcom Mifsud is appearing for the defence.

Dr Arthur Azzopardi and Dr Kathleen Grima appeared as parte civile.