Man accused of Kalkara murder described as a ‘family man’

The man who shot his father-in-law in Kalkara in October was today described as a family man who was however showing signs of anxiety, a police officer who has known the accused for a long time said.

Godwin Scicluna, 52, known as 'il-Goodie' was "a family man who cared for his children before anything else in the world, however in the past months he looked sad and worried, as if something pained him. He was hurting inside," police constable Ryan Grech told court.

Scicluna is accused of killing Joseph Caruana, father of his former partner and grievously injuring Simone Caruana and one of their daughters when he fired a shotgun in their direction.

The officer, who on the day of the incident was off duty, said he has been Scicluna's neighbour since birth and never had issues with him.

"We used to see him with his family walking with the kids and animals they kept at the farmhouse. He treasured them and after the incident, they were still clutching bags of sweets he had bought for them. Until recently it was very quiet, but lately we used to hear them argue loudly", Grech said.

Taking the witness stand, Grech explained how at around 10:45am on Sunday 27 October he heard what sounded like an exploding tyre and his family queried where it came from.

His wife ran to the balcony and told him that Simone Caruana was running towards their residence, covered in blood, carrying one of her daughters and another running close behind.

While Grech's parents took in the wounded woman and two children, Caruana asked the constable to go to her former residence where her father had been shot dead.

"My two other kids are still inside. My father is dead", Caruana told the witness.

Constable Grech, who is detailed at the Rapid Intervention Unit, rushed to the farmhouse were Scicluna and Grech lived together until August. On the floor of an internal yard just past the garage entrance, Grech saw the dead body of Joseph Caruana.

"He was on the floor, face down and Simone's son was kneeling next to him. I looked up and saw the maxicosi with the eight-month baby in it. I took the two siblings out of the farmhouse and entrusted them to my father outside the garage door," Grech said.

The officer called 112 and asked for assistance and an ambulance.

Grech returned to the residence of the accused and found Scicluna walking out of the kitchen and about to light a cigarette.

"I asked him what happened and he replied someone had assaulted him. I told him to exit the residence and that the police were on the way".

"While crossing the yard, I noticed the accused stoop and pick part of a shotgun stock which was on the floor. He threw it over the roof of the building, but I wasn't concerned as long as I knew where it was. My priority was to preserve the crime scene", the constable recounted.

Cross examined by the defence counsel, Officer Ryan Grech elaborated how when in the past months the accused's former partner had complained with him about Scicluna having hit her, Grech had advised her to file a police report.

"I had given the same advice to the accused when he also approached me complaining against Simone", the officer said.

Later, prosecuting Inspector Keith Arnaud took the witness stand saying he was informed by the Police Control Room that a shooting had occurred at Kalkara and a man had probably lost his life.

"The person who called was police constable Ryan Grech. He gave us detailed information and also told us the suspect was under his custody", the inspector said.

The witness told the court how police investigations revealed the accused had a relation with Simone Caruana for a number of years.

The couple had four children aged five, three and two years and a baby of eight months. However in August the couple split and the woman went to live with her parents. Subsequently with the help of Appogg she moved to her own house.

When the Homicide Squad arrived on site, the mother and her two daughters were being medically examined in an ambulance which sped to Mater Dei Hospital soon after.

Simone Caruana and her three-year old daughter had suffered grievous injuries to their shoulders. The two were discharged from hospital three days later.

The police entered Scicluna's residence and found the body of Joseph Caruana, face down on the floor. "He had been shot in the back and lower neck regions. He also had injuries at the back of his head compatible with blunt force trauma, suspected to have been sustained when victim was hit with the stock of a shotgun", Inspector Arnaud explained.

The stock was retrieved from the rooftop of the farmhouse, after Constable Ryan Grech told investigators he had seen the accused throw it there. The gun's barrel was found in a pile of manure at the back of the farmhouse, where the accused kept a number of animals including a pony, chickens and rabbits.

The accused's former partner, Simone Caruana told the police how she had a relation with Scicluna however it had turned sour, after the man started beating her and threatening her with murder.

However the woman never filed a police report reiterating she did not want to escalate matters. "She only filed a report on 16 August when the accused told her he was willing to go back to prison after sending her to the cemetery," the witness explained.

After the couple broke up, Caruana never kept the accused from seeing his children. She met him near the school and at times took the children to his house.

On 27 October the family had dined together after the accused cooked rabbit for their children. All was quiet until an argument over a digital camera led Scicluna to smash the camera on the kitchen floor.

The couple exchanged verbal insults and the accused went to fetch his shotgun. Knowing what was about to follow, Simone scrambled under the kitchen table but noticed her daughter Shania was still in the room.

Upon entering the kitchen, Scicluna raised the shotgun parallel to his daughter's face and threatened his former partner he would shoot at her.

The woman grabbed the shotgun's barrel and struggled to take the weapon from his hand. She also instructed her daughter to go wait for her grandfather outside and ask him to help.

Moments later, Simone's father entered the room and pushed Scicluna away, however the gun was still in the accused's hands.

The mother tried to grab the maxicosi from the table but failed to reach it. Together with her two daughters they ran towards the door, followed by her father.

She looked back to see her former partner raise the shotgun and fire at her. Her father went down screaming and urging her to run faster.

Scicluna chased the three females out in the street and again shot in their direction, wounding the woman in her left shoulder.

Simone Caruana also told officers the accused had no qualms with her parents even if he didn't like the fact they supported her after she left him.

"They had lent the former couple €5,000 to buy an outboard which was sold months later and a Vauxhall was purchased. The accused used the car daily, albeit the vehicle being on his partner's name," Inspector Arnaud held.

When the police spoke to the accused he confirmed he had never argued with the family of his former partner.

"He told officers he remembers reaching for the gun and firing a single shot, but he remembers nothing else saying his world blanked", the witness said.

Inspector Keith Arnaud explained to the court, how a broken shotgun was retrieved from the crime scene. Three shotgun cartridges, one of which was not spent were also found on the scene.

Investigations revealed the shotgun had been reported stolen from a house in Zabbar in April 2003. However the accused whilst admitting he had no license for the weapon, argued he had found the shotgun at San Anard, limits of Xghajra.

At the end of the sitting, the defence requested the court to release the farmhouse and pass the keys to the accused's brother in order for family members to cater for the animals he kept.

The prosecution supported the request saying, "the victim herself requested that the animals are taken care of, particularly the pony belonging to her daughter Shanaia".

Magistrate Edwina Grima upheld the request ordering that prior to the house keys passing to the accused's brother, the victim is allowed to remove her personal belongings from the residence.

Inspectors Keith Arnaud, Michael Mallia and Robert Sareo are prosecuting. Lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha and Mark Attard Montalto appeared for the accused.