It is highly probable that the Transport Malta bomber may have talked to somebody else about an ongoing conflict that was serious enough to have pushed him over the edge, according to a forensic psychologist.
“The brutality of planting a bomb and the possibility of the perpetrator being on site with serious risk of injury indicate the person may have been very desperate to seek some form of revenge,” forensic psychologist Roberta Holland, a lecturer with the University’s Institute of Criminology, told The Times.
In such circumstances, she added, it was highly likely the perpetrator’s anxious behaviour may have been noticed by others or else he could have talked about it with somebody.
Police investigations into last week’s bombing at the offices of the transport authority have not yet yielded arrests. The motive for the crime remains unclear since the targeted office belongs to a top official who deals with issues linked to land transport.
On Sunday, the Prime Minister called on anybody having information on the bombing to pass it on to the police.
Major Peter Ripard, a traffic consultant, had part of his left leg amputated after the blast and Konrad Pulè, the chief officer of land transport, was slightly injured.
The bomb was lowered by wire from the pine grove behind the TM building, down a bastion wall opposite Mr Pulè’s office window and then triggered by a string.
According to Ms Holland, the perpetrator could either have a history of violence or else has an “over-controlled” personality, keeping feelings and frustrations pent up inside.
“In either case the individual has a low tolerance level and feels the only way to resolve a conflict is through violence. In this case it is extreme violence, which leads one to believe the person may have lost all hope in achieving his aim, whatever that was, because of somebody else’s actions,” she said.
Although the tendency is to assume that the motive was linked to the place of work, all options had to be left open.
“Whatever the motive, if the target was specific, as the case seems to suggest, there may have been a build-up of sorts that led to this state of affairs,” she said.
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