Updated at 1.15 p.m. with more police evidence - A man accused of murdering a lawyer in Gozo nine years ago had blamed the lawyer for his marriage break-up, a court was told today.

The accused David Zerafa.The accused David Zerafa.

Prosecutor Phillip Galea Farrugia, from the Attorney General's Office, said the accused, Daniel Zerafa, through his twisted thoughts had blamed lawyer Michael Grech for the break-up of his marriage and he was convinced that his former wife was having an affair with the lawyer.

Addressing the jurors at Zerafa's trial by jury, Dr Galea Farrugia said the accused believed that his estranged wife was using the lawyer to get back at him.

Therefore, armed with a pistol and a baseball bat, and accompanied by a friend,   he went to his garage and killed him.

The inspector said the accused admitted to two men that he killed the victim because he claimed that the lawyer had an affair with his wife. He gave them  details that even the police did not know until forensic evidence confirmed his version. He had told these men that he had planned to kill not only the victim's wife but also his accomplice.

Dr Grech had been shot in the neck and suffered a blow on the head outside his  garage in Marsalforn.

During the compilation of evidence in July 2005, it emerged that Dr Grech had been assisting the wife of the accused in separation proceedings.

Police Inspector Chris Pullicino, who used to head the Homicide Squad, said the scene of the crime was puzzling because it started outside the door of the lawyer's residence, with a trail of blood continuing down the stairs to garage leve and around the corner of a road.

There was a concentration of blood in a gutter where we found Dr Grech's broken spectacles. There were lots of documents on the ground as well as his briefcase.

The next morning the police questioned several people about their whereabouts, included the accused. He told the police that he had slept at his parents' house asleep with his two siblings. He was released.

Investigations on Dr Grech's computer were negative.

Maria Grech, the victim's wife, told the police she heard a commotion coming from downstairs and when she opened the front door she came face to face with a man wearing a boiler suit and a balaclava but his eyes were clear and almond shaped. She said this person pointed the gun at her. She closed the door immediately.

Some time later she opened again and went downstairs where she saw her husband's briefcase and his car. She followed the trail of blood to a garage which was under construction next door.

The Inspector said that in July, the police received an anonymous call with a male voice saying that David Zerafa was to blame because of separation proceedings involving his wife.

In July 2005, the inspector said, he  was approached by two inmates at St Michael's ward, Rodney Vella and Steve Spiteri, who said that Mr Zerafa had told them that he had murdered the lawyer and he explained in detail what he had done. They said he had told them he had killed the lawyer because he was appearing for his wife during separation proceedings and was also having an affair with her.

The accused had told the two men that he and an accomplice went to the lawyer's block of flats and waited for him in the common area. When he arrived they started beating him up and shot him. He managed to run off, but they caught up with him in the road.

He eventually lost consciousness so they dragged him to an open garage.

The bloodied drag mark corroborated this story, the inspector said.

The accused also told the inmates that he and his accomplice went to a room near  Ramla Bay to change.

During a confrontation at police headquarters,  the accused at first said the two were lying and then said he had been bluffing and joking.

However the details he had given the two inmates convinced the police that their version was really what Mr Zerafa had told them.

The inspector said Mrs Grech was shown nine photographs which included Mr Zerafa.  She was very specific about the eyes which, she said, were very particular and almond shaped. Out of the photos, which included seven police officers with their faces covered with a balaclava, she had immediately chosen Mr Zerafa's photo.

During an ID parade with real people all wearing white boilers suits and balaclavas, she again picked out the accused.

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