Tale of murder and revenge

The proverbial saying “an eye for an eye” rang true yesterday after details of a “mafia-style family feud” emerged during the trial by jury of a man charged with an attempted revenge-murder.

Ronnie Azzopardi, 34, yesterday denied trying to kill the brother of the man who had murdered his own brother Jason, also known as Is-Sufu.

Prosecuting lawyer Nadine Sant told the court that a feud between the Azzopardi and Spiteri families had led to the murder.

That in turn had prompted Ronnie to seek revenge against the murderer, Melchior Spiteri, 36, who is serving a 30-year jail term for the crime, committed in Cospicua on October 22, 2001.

On the night of January 5, 2003, Ronnie, on a scrambler motorbike, had followed Jonathan Spiteri and drove up alongside him as the two were on St Anthony Road in Marsascala. He then fired five shots at him, the prosecution alleged.

“His intention to kill was a fact,” Dr Sant said. Only one of the shots hit the target, in the shoulder, but he lost control of the car and hit a wall, severely damaging the ­vehicle.

She said the two families lived on the same housing estate and it was an incident between the deceased and Mr Spiteri’s mother, involving usury, that had ignited the feud.

Mr Azzopardi had been expecting an exorbitant fee for lending her money and after Mr Spiteri found out about it he killed him.

Taking the witness stand, Superintendent Carmelo Magri, who was an inspector at the time, said that after the incident he had spoken to Jonathan Spiteri in hospital and he accused Ronnie Azzopardi of shooting at him.

The officer said swabs taken of the motorcycle had proved that a gun was fired near or from the bike after it tested positive for gunshot residue.

He added that the bike was not Mr Azzopardi’s but actually belonged to his dead brother.

In a statement the accused denied his involvement saying that at the time of the incident he was driving a car, with his wife in the passenger seat, and was nowhere near the scene.

The trial continues.

Lawyers Edward Gatt and Kris Busietta appeared for the accused.