Accused had 'asked where to buy a bomb'

A woman yesterday told a court how the brother of her murdered partner threatened to kill her, her children and anyone else close to her because he wanted to get his hands on a Mercedes she had inherited.

Mary Rose Cassar told Magistrate Jacqueline Padovani Grima that since her former partner, Jason Azzopardi, had been shot dead - in Cospicua four years ago - his brother Ronnie insisted that the (deceased's) Mercedes belonged to him.

However, a court had ruled that the car was left to Jason Azzopardi's 11 heirs who did not include his brother.

Ms Cassar was testifying during the first sitting of the compilation of evidence against 33-year-old Ronnie Azzopardi of Cospicua who is pleading not guilty to one count of murder and four counts of attempted murder when he planted a bomb in Zejtun on June 18.

Mr Azzopardi is charged with the murder of Angela Bondin and with trying to kill Ms Cassar and her sons Jesmar, 7, Jean Leon, 4, and 20-month old Kevin.

He is also charged with seriously injuring Therese Grima, damaging the property of Antoine Grima and Alexander Grech's van.

Ms Cassar testified that on June 18, a Saturday, she went to her mother's house in Zejtun to see her children who lived there. She explained that she did this ritually every Saturday.

She left home at about 9.30 a.m. and went to pick up one of her six children from Naxxar then drove to Zejtun. She and her children, aged between 20 months and 12 years, had lunch at her mother's at about midday and some time later she heard an explosion.

At first she thought it was something to do with the feast but later on, at about 2 p.m., her father told her what had happened and that two people were hurt.

Her car was parked in the area where the explosion accurred and so she went to check on it. When she saw that the car was not damaged, she returned to her mother's house.

"At about 3.30 p.m., when I went back to the car to leave with three of my children, I was approached by a police sergeant who asked me if I had noticed a bag near my car earlier on. I told him I had not and when he asked me if I was in any trouble I told him I was. That was when I learnt what had really happened. That it was a bomb," she said.

"When I heard the explosion, I got this feeling which is why I went to check on my car. About three weeks earlier a person had told me that Ronnie Azzopardi, who is my children's' uncle, had asked where he could buy a bomb. The person warned me to be careful about my car."

Ms Cassar did not want to reveal the identity of the person who had warned her because he was a relative and feared for him.

She explained that she had known the accused for about nine years as she had had a relationship with his late brother.

"For the past three years, he has given me a lot of trouble because, in his will, his brother left everything to me and my children and nothing to him. He expects to take part of the inheritance, particularly the Mercedes. When Jason died, the Mercedes was next to him and the police had seized it. I managed to take it back from the police and Ronnie insists that Jason left it to him but I know it's not true," Ms Cassar said.

She explained that some time before the incident she had parked the Mercedes in a friend's garage because she did not have one and Mr Azzopardi had gone there with another two men. She had to drive the car out of the garage in the presence of the police.

She also said that there had been a court case over the Mercedes and the court had decided that it belonged to Jason Azzopardi's 11 heirs. Ms Cassar added that Mr Azzopardi threatened her several times and she filed various police reports. On one occasion he had shot at the father of one of her sons.

PS Angelo Curmi said that on June 18 he was informed that there was an explosion in Triq Madonna Tal-Hniena in Zejtun and two women had been injured.

When he arrived on the scene, he learnt that Ms Grima had been taken to hospital by her son while Ms Bondin was still lying on the ground, surrounded by people and waiting for an ambulance.

The sergeant spoke to Ms Grima's husband, Joseph, who explained that earlier that day, at about 10.30 a.m., he saw two people in a blue or grey car and one of them placed a plastic bag under a letter box across the road from the garage where the explosion took place.

PS Curmi then went to speak to the two women in hospital. Ms Grima told him she saw a plastic bag on the ground and decided to carry it to her son's garage because the garbage truck had already gone by that day. She planned to take out the bag to be collected the following Monday.

After placing the bag in a corner in the garage, she met Ms Bondin and the two women stopped to talk when the explosion happened.

The sergeant added that although he planned to speak to Ms Bondin she was not in a state to do so. Ms Bondin died later in hospital.

The case continues.