Jurors in the trial of a man accused of murdering an 82-year-old woman yesterday heard a woman explain how she opened the door of her elderly aunt's house in Msida to find her lying in the hall, with a stream of dry blood near her injured head and a broken statue of Our Lady beside her.

"After my aunt's neighbours informed us that they were worried because they hadn't seen her that morning, I went to her house to check on her. I was afraid to open the door because I didn't know what I'd find," Helen Glass testified.

"Eventually, I opened the door. A few steps inside the hall I saw my aunt lying on the floor. She was bleeding from the forehead and looked dead. I distinctly remember seeing a statue of Our Lady, with the head damaged, and there was a lot of glass on the floor.

"I was shocked and ran out. I didn't remain there for more than a minute."

Glass was testifying before Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono in the trial by jury of Mario Pollacco, 35, of Msida, who is pleading not guilty to the wilful homicide of Rose Mary Schembri in her Msida home on June 3, 1998.

He is also charged with the theft of over Lm1,000 in cash and other items, qualified with violence

Earlier, the bill of indictment was read out to the six male and three female jurors and to the five supplementary jurors - two men and three women.

The bill claims that, on June 3, 1998, in the afternoon, Pollacco went to Schembri's house, situated in Monsignor Dandria Street, Msida, with the intent to rob her.

People knew Schembri as a woman who was careful with her money, and used to economise on everything to the extent that she did not have electricity at home. Schembri kept her pension money hidden in her house where she also had many religious statues and precious stones.

Pollacco lived in the vicinity of Schembri's house and had been to her home before on the pretext of speaking to her or helping her. On the day of the murder he managed to get into her house by taking advantage of the trust she had in him and of the fact that she lived on her own, the bill of indictment alleges.

After the old woman allowed Pollacco into her house and closed the door behind him, he held her against her will and forced her to tell him where she kept the money. But she resisted his threats and there was a struggle between the two.

During the struggle Pollacco grabbed one or more hard objects and beat the old woman on her head. As Schembri struggled to ward off her assailant, she injured his arm and even bit him.

When he realised this, the bill alleges, Pollacco decided to strangle the woman to avoid being caught. He left her lifeless body lying face up on the floor.

Pollacco then searched the room for money or anything precious, making a mess of the room and even moving a sideboard away from the wall. He found what he was looking for and it was estimated that he stole over Lm1,000 in cash and precious stones.

The bill also claims that during the struggle many objects were broken, including statues of Our Lady. The following morning her niece, Glass, found Schembri's corpse in the hall.

The bill says it eventually resulted clearly that bite marks on Pollacco's body were caused by Schembri's teeth.

In her evidence, Glass explained how on June 4, 1998 her aunt's neighbours phoned her sister-in-law to tell her they were worried because they had not seen Schembri that morning.

"My sister-in-law could not go to her house as she had a baby and being my day off I decided to go myself. When I arrived there, at about 9 a.m., the door was closed. She usually kept it ajar when she was in the house. I had the key to the house but I was scared to go in alone because I didn't know what I would find," Glass explained.

"Neighbours saw me and let me use their phone to call the ambulance to have some form of back-up when I went in. I thought my aunt might have fainted. But when I phoned the ambulance I was told they could not come before a doctor had certified that she needed an ambulance.

"I tried to call two of my relatives but they were at work and so a neighbour went to the police station to ask a policeman to come over. But the police sent word they couldn't be present until a relative filed a report," she said.

Glass explained that when she eventually opened the door she saw her aunt lying on the floor in the hallway. Being a nurse, she realised her aunt was dead because of the colour of her body and because her chest was not moving. She also said she did not touch anything on the scene of the crime.

"I ran out, shocked, and went to the police station where I told a policeman what had happened. He followed me back to the house, it was about 10 a.m. by then, and told me to open the door. I walked in and he followed.

"When I went in the second time I noticed the presence of more blood and that she had a wound on her forehead. On the floor was a lot of broken glass. A sort of wall-unit was displaced and leaning against the wall," Glass explained.

She said her aunt was an eccentric woman who was also very religious. Her house was full of religious icons such as statues and holy pictures. She explained that she did not visit her aunt often because she was busy and also because her aunt was not welcoming and she could not really converse with her.

"She would always speak to me about how much evil there is in the world and she would complain. She was a teacher before she retired and only lived on her pension money. She never wanted electricity but used fuel lamps and candles at night," Glass said.

"My aunt was a secretive woman and I didn't know if anyone else had the keys to her house or if anyone helped her. She was physically strong and could look after herself. No one in the family was really close to her but my brother, Louis, helped her a lot. She was grateful for any help we gave her but she was an obstinate woman," she said.

Earlier, PC Patrick Grech explained that he was appointed by the inquiring magistrate to take photographs of the scene of the crime. Photographs, projected onto a screen in court, captured the way in which Schembri's body was found lying on the floor in the hall with a stream of blood by her side.

A brown, wooden sideboard behind her was moved out of its place and was resting against the wall and many items, including holy pictures and lamps, could be seen on the floor.

Other photographs illustrated casts of the old woman's teeth, marks on Pollacco's hands and other casts taken for comparison purposes.

The trial continues.

Dr Michael Sciriha, Dr John Attard Montalto and Dr Philip Galea Farrugia are appearing for Pollacco.

Senior Counsel to the Republic Dr Mark Said, is prosecuting.

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