Court given account of investigation’s search for murdered prostitute

A transvestite prostitute who was found murdered in a derelict field in Albert Town, Marsa back in 2005 had had an argument with one of his clients after he attempted to steal his mobile phone, a police superintendent told a court today.

Superintendent Carmel Bartolo was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Libyan national Ismael Habesh, 42, and Tunisian national Faisal Mahouachi, 42, who stand charge with the murder of Simon Grech.

There was a tense moment in court when the victim's aunt agitatedly demanded to speak in court after glimpsing the crime scene photos of Grech's corpse. Denied permission, she left the courtroom slamming the door behind her, only to be called in by Magistrate Carol Peralta and fined €50 for contempt of court.

According to Habesh's statement to the police, the man claimed that on the night of 5 April, Grech had called him to assist him in an argument with a client who had accused him of stealing his cell phone.

Habesh claimed that he had hitched a lift to Marsa, where he found Grech with blood on his hands, and from there flagged a taxi to take Grech and the client home. The taxi driver refused to take on the passengers, so Habesh instead took the taxi to Hamrun and from there caught a bus back home to Mosta. He told police he did not see Grech again since that night.

His version was corroborated by the taxi driver, the owner of the White Star bar where Grech was last seen that night, and Habesh's wife Joanne, who said her husband returned home at 9:45pm and did not leave the house again.

Police who arrested Habesh found two SIM cards wrapped in a cigarette packet's foil, allegedly given to him by Grech along with a mobile phone. Habesh subsequently led police to Mark Borg, to whom he had given the mobile phone.

Borg told police he was unaware of the phone's origin, but that he had accepted the phone in return for a fiver he had lent Habesh. He also said Habesh had used the phone to call someone there and then.

Police tracked this phone call to a mechanic, Clive Sammut, who told police that an unidentified foreigner had driven to his workplace in a red Ford Escort MkIII on 4 April, to purchase a van. Sammut said he later noticed that his mobile phone had gone missing.

Another phone call Habesh made was traced to the client Grech had argued with.

Other witnesses police spoke to were Grace Cini, Dorianne Galea and Christine Spiteri. Cini said she had seen Grech after the argument, and later asked her to make a call on her phone, but since she was out of credit Grech went to the White Star bar to call from there. She later saw Habesh in a red Ford Escort, who asked her if she had seen Grech, and to which she replied in the negative.

On her part, Dorianne Galea said that on the night of 6 April, she witnessed Habesh entering the Track Bar in Msida in a drunken stupor, at around 11pm. He demanded a torch, and instead grabbed a candle and left the bar. Habesh allegedly told Dorianne Galea that he needed to repair his car, although she said she did not see either a car nor keys in his hands.

Faced with these statements, Habesh confirmed with police his presence at the Track Bar, but that he was driving a Vauxhall car and not a Ford Escort.

Another eyewitness, Christine Spiteri, led police to the area where the victim Simon Grech would change into women's clothes which he used to ply his trade. She said she had seen Grech in the company of another Arab man, simply identified as 'Jamal', whom she described as a close friend of Habesh.

She said she last saw Simon Grech in the company of 'Jamal'. The accused was wearing a skirt, a shredded top, and high heels - the same clothes Grech's parents last saw him wearing - which police also found in the place where he used to change into his outfit.

An intensive search by police in the area where Simon Grech used to change in his clothes was carried out on 13 April. There, in a derelict field, they found Grech's corpse in an advanced stage of decomposition.

That same day at 6pm, the police rearrested Habesh on suspicion of being an accessory to murder. Habesh admitted to having used a stolen red Ford Escort - later retrieved from Naxxar - of having stolen the mechanic's phone, and after police established the presence of blood in the car, that it was Jamal who had stolen the car.

But he denied any connection with the murder of Grech.

Police then proceeded to arrest the man identified as Jamal, who stated that he was with both Habesh and Grech until 4:30pm on the day of 5 April 2005, when they dropped off the victim at Marsa. He met Grech again at around 7:30pm after the victim had argued with the client. He claimed that Habesh had left the scene to look for a car, while Jamal stayed with Grech until 9pm. At his home, police found a knife, a pair of shoes and some clothes. He also denied any involvement in the murder.

Police then spoke to Habesh's wife again: faced with new findings, she dropped her husband's alibi, saying the two had had an argument on 5 April, and that they had slept in different rooms and that she could not for her husband's movements on the night.

Superintendent Bartolo said he was promoted to his present rank and was no longer involved in the investigation, but later learnt that Habesh and another man, Faisal Mahouachi, had been arraigned on the murder. The case continues.