Family on trial for murder

Father, mother and son yesterday sat in the dock, side by side on the first day of their trial by jury where they are pleading not guilty to the murder of an 18-year-old woman five years ago when they dumped her unconscious in a field and left her to die of a drug overdose.

When outlining his case to jurors, Assistant Attorney General Anthony Barbara, prosecuting, explained how this was an "extremely piteous case" involving a young woman - Rachel Bowdler - who had a drug addiction.

He painted the scene: Ms Bowdler had gone with Jason Decelis to his mother's Bugibba apartment and, at about 6 p.m., she started sweating, frothing at the mouth and wheezing - clear signs of a drug overdose.

When the man realised what was happening he called his father Carmel for help and later his mother Concetta arrived from work.

At 6 a.m. the following morning, Dr Barbara continued, the three family members decided to dump the dying woman somewhere to avoid getting into trouble.

"She spent between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. in a moribund state... 12 hours fighting for her life... then they dumped her... They knew what was going to happen to her. They knew that the natural cause of an overdose is death. Everyone knows," Dr Barbara said as he introduced his case to the jurors in the trial of Carmel and Concetta Decelis, both 57, and their son Jason, 29.

All three are pleading not guilty to the voluntary homicide of Ms Bowdler when they dumped her, when in a critical condition, in a field known as Ras Il-Gebel in the limits of Mgarr on May 13, 2001.

During yesterday's sitting, Jason Decelis barely kept his eyes open and sat crouched in his seat, eyes closed, seemingly oblivious to everything around him.

His mother by his side, as well as a police officer behind him, tried often to pull him to a sitting posture but it did not last long.

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono heard Assistant Police Commissioner Michael Cassar and Superintendent Neil Harrison explain how Ms Bowdler's lifeless body was found by a farmer and his wife.

Her trousers were on back to front and next to her was a bag containing her shoes and a haversack in which was a camera and her identity card, among other items.

On May 14, an anonymous caller told the police that Ms Bowdler had been taken dead from the apartment of Mrs Decelis and that Carmel and Jason Decelis were involved. (Mr and Mrs Decelis had been separated for several years and he lived in Pietà with their son.)

The police arrested the three family members from the Pietà apartment and took them to the police headquarters for questioning. Initially they denied knowing Ms Bowdler.

As police continued their investigations, they carried out forensic tests on the Decelis' cars and in Mrs Decelis' Bugibba apartment where a Ms Bowdler finger print was lifted from the bathroom.

Meanwhile, a woman of Tunisian origin who lived in the same Bugibba block revealed herself to be the anonymous informer.

Her brother, who lived with her, told the police that on May 12 at about 4 p.m. he saw Ms Bowdler and Jason Decelis enter the block. The young woman was carrying a dog and asked him if he wanted to adopt it.

The next morning, when he went out for work at about 7.30 a.m., he saw the Decelis family carry Ms Bowdler, unconscious, down the stairs.

Mr Cassar went on to explain how the Decelis family persisted in denying any involvement until the police showed them the outcome of further investigations. Mrs Decelis was the first to speak about the "tragedy" that happened in her apartment.

She said in a statement that on that day, she had got home after work at about 10 p.m. to find her husband, son and his girlfriend there. The young woman was lying unconscious on the sofa frothing at the mouth.

Her son told her that Ms Bowdler had started complaining that she was feeling dizzy. She told him she had taken ecstasy and was high and wanted something to counteract the effect.

Mrs Decelis said she and her family decided to take the woman out of the apartment to avoid getting into trouble. So her son and husband carried her to her husband's car, put her in the back seat near her son and drove to the field where they left her before dialling 196 for help.

In his statement, Carmel Decelis recounted that his son had called him, crying, and asked him to meet at the Bugibba apartment where he found the young woman unconscious.

He said he did not call an ambulance because he did not want to get into trouble with the law.

Superintendent Harrison testified that Jason Decelis initially chose not to answer questions. However, on the day of the scheduled arraignment he decided to release a statement where he explained that he met Ms Bowdler that same morning while he was sitting on the stairs to his mother's apartment.

She went inside with him, they watched Jerry Springer on television then had sex on the sofa. She told him she had had some drug and sometime later she lost consciousness. He called his father and his mother later arrived home from work.

They tried to wake Ms Bowdler up but he too did not want to call an ambulance because he did not know what to say. He said that after they placed her in the field they called for help.

But, Superintendent Harrison said, no such phone calls were documented in the police or hospital records.

The case continues this morning.

Lawyers Chris Soler, Chris Cardona, Malcolm Mifsud and Martin Fenech represented the family members.