Accused speaks of a frame-up

A man standing trial for the murder of an 82-year-old woman yesterday told jurors that when police were questioning him about the murder, he thought to himself it was difficult to get out of such a "frame-up".

"After I was arrested I was taken to police headquarters for questioning. There were about 12 police officers and some of them asked questions at the same time and so it was difficult for me to answer," Mario Pollacco said.

"The police told me many things and asked many questions. An officer asked me what Miss (Rose Mary) Schembri's belongings were doing at my house. I couldn't understand what he was talking about. I thought to myself 'there's no way of getting out of this frame-up'."

Pollacco, 38, of Msida, was testifying before Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono in his trial by jury. He is pleading not guilty to Schembri's wilful homicide in her house on June 3, 1998.

He is also accused of the theft of over Lm1,000 worth of cash and precious objects, qualified with violence.

Pollacco took the witness stand yesterday at 11 a.m. after the prosecution rested its case. His first words were: "I have been waiting for the opportunity to give my version of the events for a long time."

He said he had known Schembri since he was a little boy because she used to teach his mother and because he lived two doors away from her.

Three to four months before she was killed she started losing the use of her legs and could not walk properly. As a result, she started asking relatives and neighbours to run errands for her. Pollacco explained that during the day Schembri usually remained sitting on a chair in the doorway of her house.

"She often called me and asked me to run an errand for her. I always helped her. I usually spoke to her from the pavement and the few times I went in, I never ventured beyond the hall," he said.

A few weeks before the murder, Pollacco said, Schembri and himself were talking about busts of Our Lady and he told her he knew a man who made big statues of Our Lady.

She asked him to check how much the statues would cost and he eventually informed her that they cost between Lm8 and Lm10.

She gave him a Lm10 note which she got from a table in the hallway. She also asked him to cover the statue when he was carrying it to her house because otherwise her neighbours would see it and curse it. The next day he bought the statue, wrapped it in a pillow case and took it to her house. As it was heavy, he placed it on a white table as she told him to.

"The day before Miss Schembri died she called me into her house and told me that three youths had broken in and beaten her up. She told me they had almost broken the statue I bought for her.

"As we were talking, a youth with long, blond hair passed by and Miss Schembri told me he was one of the three who had assaulted her. I then understood whom she was taking about. Those three were a group of vindictive youths," he said.

Pollacco explained that on the day of the incident he woke up at about 11 a.m. and took his dog for a walk. As he arrived near Schembri's house the dog was startled by an Arab man who was standing in the doorway.

As he stopped in the road he noticed a Melita Cable technician working on a cable box on Schembri's house. The ladder was resting right in front of Schembri's door and, she being an eccentric woman, he wondered why she had not already scolded the technician.

"Later on that day, at about 4 p.m., I went to my mother's house where I stayed for about an hour. On my way back home I saw a certain Rennie. He was looking at something, so I followed his gaze and saw a man and a 16-year-old youth. The youth was one of the three Miss Schembri had told me about. They knocked at her door," he said.

Pollacco said that when he was arrested and taken to police headquarters for questioning, Police Inspector Noel Cutajar noticed that he had marks on his arms. Pollacco explained he had started wearing short sleeved shirts in April. In the three months following he constantly had scratches on his arms which were caused by his dog.

Pollacco explained that he had a passion for animals and his dog, Linda, was his only companion. He took the dog wherever he went and very often played with her, sometimes in an aggressive manner.

The accused said he never objected to the police taking blood samples, casts of the marks on his arms or photographs. Neither did he object to the police searching his house. He had even urged the police to take some of his clothes as evidence that the dog often tore them.

He said that at police headquarters he was asked about everything, including how he knew Schembri. He released three statements one of which had not been produced in court.

After making the first statement he was released but re-arrested a few hours later and taken back to headquarters. But while he was being questioned a second time he complained of strong stomach pain and was taken to hospital.

He was recovered in hospital suffering from a stomach virus. While he was there Police Commissioner John Rizzo and Supt. Bertu Mula took a third statement.

"I did not want to sign the statement because I felt that what had been written down was not exactly what I said. Mr Rizzo told me that if I didn't sign, it would mean that I was scared of something. So I signed.

"In all statements I denied my involvement in Miss Schembri's murder and I denied burgling her house. What I said then is the truth," Pollacco insisted.

Pollacco denied telling two men, who had testified in the trial, to help him burgle Schembri's house. He said he did not consider any of them to be his friends. They were merely acquaintances.

Pollacco admitted speaking to another man, whom he also referred to as an acquaintance, about burgling a villa. "Once we were speaking and he told me he had started his business after he burgled a villa. I told him that I would consider doing the same.

"But the burglary was all in my mind. I tried to make him believe that I intended to burgle a villa because I owed him money and wanted to extend the time of repayment. I never told him I had actually burgled anyone.

"Friday morning he passed by my house for the money and he told me that a woman who lived in my road had been killed. I had just woken up and only got to know about the murder then," he said.

Under the cross-examination, Pollacco said the police had asked him many questions that made him think it was a frame-up.

Answering a question by Dr Mark Said, Pollacco insisted that while being questioned in hospital Police Commissioner Rizzo had told him that not signing the statement meant he was scared of something.

Dr Said asked for a confrontation between Pollacco and Mr Rizzo. The latter insisted the statement was a genuine one adding that Pollacco's allegations were "all inventions".

The trial continues on Monday when Pollacco will continue testifying.

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.