A man yesterday admitted to stabbing his wife, the mother of his three children, with a butcher’s knife on a Tarxien bus stop two years ago, saying he was sorry and never meant to go so far as to commit murder.

He walked calmly to the police station where he asked for three things: to wash his hands after killing his wife, for a cigarette and a cup of coffee

Roger Agius, 49, said he did not know what came over him when he stabbed his estranged wife, Catherine, with the large knife he was carrying in his bag.

He yesterday insisted he only waited for her on the bus stop on her return from work to speak to her about their separation proceedings. He was under “pressure” because he believed his wife was having an affair and because she wanted to take his property in the separation settlement.

“I used to tell my children not to be like me, since I used to drink, and to be more like their mother... But when all this (the alleged affair and separation) happened I told them not to grow up to be like her, but to be like me, since I did not try to break up our family,” Mr Agius said, shortly after apologising for his actions.

He was speaking during what was to be the beginning of his trial by jury, which did not go ahead since he filed a guilty plea.

He admitted to the murder of his 40-year-old wife in Neolithic Temple Street, Tarxien on July 13, 2009, the illegal possession of the knife and to relapsing.

Testifying during the compilation of evidence in July 2009, Police Inspector Daniel Zammit had said Mrs Agius arrived in hospital with the knife – which had a 30cm blade – still stuck just under her left breast. She was immediately taken to surgery but died from a perforated lung.

Mr Agius told the police later that he had been on his way to the beach in Marsascala but decided to stop in Tarxien to buy cigarettes and speak to his wife. He had no towel with him.

She refused to speak to him. Mr Agius grabbed her by the arm, pulled her towards him and stabbed her with a knife that he pulled out of his bag, the inspector said.

Mrs Agius dropped her bags to the ground and people ran out to help her.

Yesterday, her husband was called to the witness stand by his lawyer, Malcolm Mifsud, for the purpose of submissions on punishment. He explained what led to his actions and said he pleaded guilty to spare his children more suffering.

He told Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano that he believed his wife was having an affair and they started separation proceedings. He soon started to feel pressured, lost his job and was seeing his children less and less.

He was also upset because his wife wanted to take the matrimonial home and another property from him. She claimed that the second property had been given to her, as a gift, by her father before marriage. However, Mr Agius said everyone knew he had paid her father for the property.

On the day of the incident he waited for her on the bus stop. “When I told her I wanted to speak to her she walked away and started swearing at me... I don’t know what happened then... I know there was my bag... Then I went to the police station,” he said referring to the fact that he later turned himself in.

Mr Agius denied planning to kill his wife but did not say why he had the knife. He also denied ever hitting his wife or taking her money and said that in future he would like to build a relationship with his children – their eldest is 16.

Lawyer Nadine Sant, representing the Attorney General’s office, said she did not believe Mr Agius was truly sorry for his actions and called on the court to jail him for life.

Dr Sant said this was the worst type of immoral, premeditated act as Mrs Agius was killed by her husband who was meant to protect her.

“He stabbed her near the heart... The blow was so powerful that even part of the knife’s handle penetrated her... It was so cruel that he then just left her there... He walked calmly to the police station where he asked for three things: to wash his hands after killing his wife, for a cigarette and a cup of coffee,” she said.

Dr Sant said Mr Agius had kicked his wife and children out of their matrimonial home so he could continue living a lifestyle that involved alcohol and gambling.

Dr Sant and lawyer Joseph Giglio, representing the victim’s family, agreed that Mr Agius should not benefit from a reduced punishment due to an early guilty plea because it was only submitted on the eve of the trial.

Dr Giglio said Mr Agius had taken the stand to try to justify his actions and not because he was sorry.

The lawyer said he was disturbed by what Mr Agius had told his children: to be more like him since he did not break up families.

“How can he say that when he broke up a family with his action? He killed his wife and left his children alone,” Dr Giglio said.

Mr Agius’s lawyer said his client was not trying to justify his actions but to explain why he had acted that way. He added that Mr Agius had admitted to the crime five minutes afterwards, when he turned himself in to the police.

He called on the court not to hand down life imprisonment but to make sure that justice, and not retribution, was served.

Mr Justice Quintano is expected to pass sentence this morning.

Build-up to a murder

Catherine Agius used to have bruises on her arms, legs and face.

On July 13, 2009, Catherine Agius got off the bus in Tarxien after work, at about 6 p.m., and headed to her mother’s house where her three children were waiting for her.

Her husband too was waiting for her – on the bus stop...

According to police testimony in court, the victim’s sister had told them that ever since the beginning of their relationship, Mr Agius was addicted to alcohol and had a lot of problems at work.

Mrs Agius often had bruises on her legs, arms and face. She would insist she loved her husband and would pray, even gathering the children around to pray for him to change his ways, her sister said.

Mr Agius would spend every penny of the monthly pay cheque his wife would bring home and not leave a penny for her or the children.

The murder of Mrs Agius was the second to take place in Neolithic Temple Street in Tarxien. On March 20, 1999, police constable Mark Farrugia, who was 22, was shot outside his parent’s house, which led to constable Etienne Carter being jailed for 22 years for the murder.