Husband wanted wife's body found so son would have a grave to visit

A Gozitan man told police he had pushed his 27-year-old wife off a cliff because he could not take her nagging or beating his two-year-old son any longer but still wanted police to find a body so that she could have a proper burial and his son would have a grave to visit, a police superintendent told the Criminal Court yesterday.

Ronnie Vella, 32, of Victoria, reported his wife missing one evening three years ago but eventually admitted he had pushed her off a cliff.

"He insisted we find his wife's body so that his son would be able to visit her grave when he grew older," Superintendent Paul Sammut said.

The officer testified before Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono in Vella's trial by jury which started yesterday.

Vella is pleading not guilty to murdering his wife Jane by pushing her off a cliff in an area known as Tas-Sanap, limits of Munxar, on December 4, 1999 at about 5.30 p.m.

Superintendent Sammut yesterday explained how he was told that Vella had reported his wife missing on December 5, 1999, at about 12.30 a.m.

Vella told police that the previous evening he had taken his wife to hear the six o'clock Mass at Manresa House, a small chapel situated near a Jesuit Church in Victoria.

On his way to pick her up from Mass, he dropped off his two-and-a-half-year-old son Joseph at his mother's house. When he arrived at the chapel, his wife did not turn up and he checked with his wife's relatives but no one knew where she was.

He went back home but could not sleep.

Superintendent Sammut said he spoke to Jane Vella's parents who told him that their daughter was an aggressive person who used to hit her son, her husband and even her mother.

The superintendent sent two constables to Manresa House to check if Vella's wife had attended the 6 p.m. Mass the day before. The constables brought him word that she had not been seen at Mass the day before.

When the superintendent told Vella what he had learnt, Vella burst into tears and said his wife had jumped off a cliff when they went for a walk. Vella even showed police from where she had jumped.

But the police were suspicious of Vella's version of events and questioned him further. Vella eventually told them he had pushed his wife over the cliff and released a statement, Superintendent Sammut said.

Earlier, Inspector Antonello Grech said he spoke to Jane Vella's sister, Marianne Scicluna, who told him that her sister's married life was not a happy one.

He also spoke to someone who regularly attended Mass at Manresa House and learnt that Vella's wife had not gone to the 6 p.m. Mass the day before. This contradicted Vella's version and he went to Superintendent Sammut's office to inform him of developments.

But when he got to the office he heard Vella cry out that his 'poor wife' had jumped off a cliff.

The inspector then walked into the office and heard Vella explain that his wife suffered from depression. Vella said they had argued the night before and then went for a walk in an area known as Tas-Sanap when she suddenly ran towards the edge of the cliff and jumped.

Vella even showed police from where his wife had jumped and they searched the area with binoculars and informed the Armed Forces of Malta. The inspector explained that it was very windy that day.

Meanwhile, police commissioner (then assistant commissioner) John Rizzo and Inspector Carmelo Bartolo went to give their assistance in Gozo.

While Inspector Grech was showing them the area which Vella indicated to him, he was contacted and told to go to the police station urgently.

When he arrived at the police station he was told that Vella had admitted pushing his wife off the cliff. Vella said he had done so because she mistreated him and his son.

In the statement released to police, Vella said he had been putting up with his wife but when she beat his son that evening he decided that he could not take it any longer.

He said she was always nagging him when he went home from work because she wanted him home earlier, she only cooked light meals when he wanted her to cook fish and meat and that she often hit their son and banged him against the wall.

Vella also said he used to give his wife Lm10 a week and she always complained it was not enough.

Vella told police his wife wanted him to take their son to his mother's house every evening and that she often hit him.

He said he had been thinking of pushing her from a height since they got married in 1996 but never thought of stabbing or shooting her.

On December 4, 1999, when he arrived home from work at about 5.30 p.m. he found his son sitting in his pushchair in need of a nappy change. But his wife did not want to change him and told him to take the boy to his mother's house so she would change him.

They had an argument and after some time he told her to get dressed and suggested going out for a pizza. She agreed to go for a pizza but said she would go to Mass before.

Vella said he acted like he was no longer angry about the argument but had made up his mind to kill her by pushing her into the sea.

He dropped his son off at his aunt's house and then drove towards Munxar. His wife did not say anything about him not driving her to Mass.

When they got to the cliffs he parked the car and they argued for a while until he asked her to go for a walk.

"Poor thing, she believed me. She did not suspect," he told police.

He explained he knew the area well and that a few weeks before he had gone to choose a place where the cliffs overhung so that when he pushed his wife she would not hit against the rocks.

When he arrived at the chosen place he told her to look down at the fishing boat. She walked towards the edge and told him there was no boat and he hit her on the head and pushed her.

She held on for a while and told him to leave her alone because she was getting scared but fell eventually and screamed all the way down.

Vella told police he then went to pick up his son and told his aunt that his wife was still at Mass. When he got home, at about 7.30 p.m., he saw his wife's photo and told her: "I finally got rid of you."

That night he could not sleep because he started to regret committing a sin.

Inspector Grech said that Vella stuck to his final version of events. Meanwhile, searches for his wife's body continued both in the sea and in several wells but she was never found.

He explained that during the first two days she was reported missing, police could not search the sea because the weather was rough.

The trial continues this morning.

Assistant Attorney General Dr Anthony Barbara is prosecuting.

Dr Malcolm Mifsud is appearing for Vella while Dr Chris Said and Dr Georgina Scicluna Bajada are representing the victim's family.