Accused was of sound mind, jury decides

Jurors yesterday returned a 6-3 verdict, deciding that Anthony Schembri was of sound mind when he killed his estranged wife Doris Schembri née Vincenti on September 29, 2005, and that criminal action against him could continue.

The judge is expected to hand down the formal judgment this morning.

Mr Schembri, 62, of Birkirkara, but who lived in Sliema, stands charged with the voluntary homicide of Mrs Schembri.

The compilation proceedings in the case had been interrupted by defence submissions that their client was insane. A team of psychiatrists was appointed to draw up a report.

But the Attorney General did not agree with the report's conclusion that Mr Schembri was not of sound mind when he stabbed his wife, so a panel of jurors was yesterday appointed to decide the matter.

In addressing jurors yesterday afternoon, Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo said they had to decide on the man's state of mind and cautioned them that the legal concept of madness was different from the popular and psychiatric concepts.

The defence, led by Anglu Farrugia and Edward Gatt, argued that their client was insane and that this had even been declared by the experts appointed to draw up the report.

Prosecutor Anthony Barbara argued that Mr Schembri knew what he was doing all the way, and this was backed up by details that Mr Schembri had given to the police.

In the morning, Inspectors Christopher Pullicino and Silvio Valletta testified that Mr Schembri had gone to the Hamrun police station and gave himself up moments after stabbing his wife in her hospital bed.

Mr Schembri told the police he had thrown the knife on the floor and kicked it after stabbing her. He then washed the blood off his hands, removed his blood-stained jacket and folded it to conceal the blood. He also wore his jacket in a way that would hide the blood on his shirt as he walked out of hospital.

Inspector Pullicino said Mr Schembri had told the police he had gone to see his wife in hospital every day after she had been admitted suffering from complications. He always brought her things such as water or fruit juice.

He confessed he had bought a knife with a six-inch blade from a Tal-Lira shop in Sliema and had taken it with him on three other occasions intending to stab her if she persisted in calling him impotent. He had, however, resisted using the knife until then.

Mr Schembri also told the police he had a problem as his medication had rendered him impotent and his wife used to nag him about it.

He said he was also hurt because after they separated he had to live in a hotel in Sliema where he paid Lm200 a month, when the house she lived in with her children had been given to him by his father when they got married.

Mr Schembri said he was also upset because the parents of his daughter's boyfriend had invited his wife over for lunch at Christmas but he had not been invited. When he had asked about this, she replied they were separated and there was no need for him to accompany her.

He said his children hardly visited him and she did not encourage them to visit him either.

By stabbing her he had only wanted to hurt her and teach her a lesson, but had not wanted to kill her. When he learnt that she had died, he was sorry also for his children.

Inspector Pullicino was asked at the end of his statement whether he had anything else to add. He recalled that Mr Schembri had also said he had been abused three times a week for two whole years by a priest to whom he went for religion and Latin private lessons.

This, said Mr Schembri, had caused him to suffer from serious psychological disorders, and it was the medication he was taking for these disorders that had caused his impotence.

Psychiatrists David Cassar, Anton Grech and Ethel Felice, who drew up the report, testified that Mr Schembri had for a long time been suffering from chronic paranoid schizophrenia.

He felt as if he was being persecuted, he was deluded and he suffered from delusional perception, which made him interpret specific situations wrongly.

A month before the incident, he had started to deteriorate, hearing voices. He was also suffering from intense excitement and agitation and was even contemplating suicide.

Asked by the prosecution if they took into consideration that he had an academic and legal background, Dr Cassar said they were aware Mr Schembri was a legal procurator, but the way he described his symptoms made it clear he was seriously mentally ill.

Dr Cassar said Mr Schembri had told him that in 1991 he had stabbed his wife repeatedly with a kitchen knife. Problems between the couple persisted.

When he stabbed her in hospital in 2005, he knew he had stabbed her in her belly and neck, but, according to Mr Schembri, only wanted "to teach her a lesson".

"It was his mental sickness that made him stab, that took reason away from him. He knew what he was doing but was unable to stop as his sickness overpowered him," Dr Cassar said.

The three psychiatrists said they were convinced he was suffering from a state of madness.