Erin Tanti, the drama teacher accused of the murder of his student Lisa Maria Zahra, 15, had sent her a Valentine card in which he spoke about life having no purpose, a court heard today.

During a play a few days before the two were found at the bottom of Dingli Cliffs on March 19, he had also assumed the name Cliff Dingli.

During the second day of compilation of evidence against Mr Tanti, a police sergeant also told the court how Mr Tanti had told him after the rescue that he and Lisa Maria Zahra had gone to Dingli cliffs and taken 42 Asprin pills each. Ms Zahra jumped first and he followed.

Mr Tanti is also accused of assisting Ms Zahra commit suicide. He is pleading not guilty.

The evidence was heard before Magistrate Audrey Demicoli.

Follow today's proceedings below in reverse order (bottom first):

1.14 The witness stepped off the stand. He was the last witness of the day. The case will continue tomorrow morning. Mr Tanti's lawyer requested that Mr Tanti's hospital record - detailing the medication given to him and the time administered - be presented in court. The court accepted the request. 

1.12 The sergeant said he could not remember if Mr Tanti was being administered a drip or medication when he spoke to him in the ambulance. He said that during his five years experience in the police he had three cases of people who did not manage to commit suicide.

1.08 The sergeant clarified that Mr Tanti and Lisa Maria Zahra jumped at 3am, not 4am.

1.07 He said that, on realizing he did not die, he tried to find another way to kill himself. He dragged himself till 4 p.m., trying to find another place from where to jump, but he did not manage.  When he saw people on the cliffs, he called for help and said he needed an ambulance.

1.05 Erin Tanti told the police it was about 4am when he jumped - he looked at the watch before jumping. Mr Tanti  knew the details and the times and was not crying, the sergeant said. He was calm.

1.04  Then, Erin told him, he saw Lisa jump. He then closed his eyes and jumped after her. When he realised he was still alive he tried to get up but was in pain and could not walk. He tried to look for Lisa but could not see her.

1pm  In the ambulance, Erin Tanti  told him that the day before at about 11pm he and Lisa went to the cliffs in his car. Lisa went to him, Mr Tanti had said when asked how Lisa ended up with him. He told the police that at the cliffs they had some 42 aspirin pills each and, when they realized the pills had not managed to end their life - because they had had enough of life - they walked to the edge.

12.58 During the rescue, Erin Tanti told them that Lisa Maria Zahra was with him. The sergeant said he did not caution him since he was not taking a statement but was trying to establish if Lisa Maria was with him, so he could inform the AFM.

12.50 Police Sergeant  Conrad Debattista, stationed at the Rabat police station, says he was involved in taking the report, on March 19, when people were found off the cliffs.

The person who filed the report said a group of people noticed a man calling for help at the cliffs.When he arrived in Dingli, he said, he noticed a man at a "considerable distance" below the cliff top.

The man was on a rock, further out from the edge. He was rescued by helicopter. In the meantime, the police were informed that Erin Tanti's car was found close to a quarry in Dingli.

12.44 The sergeant exhibited items lifted from Lisa Maria's room including a notebook, perfume, an envelope containing photos of her as a child, a letter with burnt edges, several pages with notes, an envelope with an I Love You card, a packet of cigarettes, a Miss Selfridge receipt with a message written on it, chocolate wrappers with notes written on them, a lilac purse containing her ID card, another packet of cigarettes with writing on it, and a camera.

12.38 Nicholas told the police that the last time he saw Lisa Maria was the night before. His father phoned him to instruct him to take care of his sister after it emerged she spent the night with a man.

12.33 Lisa's father was to return to Malta that day. He arrived at the home at 2pm and was told Lisa Maria was missing. Initially he was angry at Nicholas then he calmed down. Tanya Mercieca, Lisa Maria 's cousin, then arrived and said she had spent time with Lisa the day before. She said she kept her distance to give privacy to Lisa Maria and then left the house. She was worried for Lisa Maria because she was fragile and lost her mother when she was young. She said the week before Lisa missed an oral exam and may have panicked. She said it was not the first time Lisa hurt herself.

12.26 Next to give evidence, Police Sergeant Bernardette Valletta, also recounted how the police had received the missing persons report on March 18. She was involved in searching Lisa Maria's room. On the bed she found a negative pregnancy test and a plastic folder with papers and a small amount of cannabis. There was a small amount of blood in her room and her brother Nicholas said that the day before she slit her wrists. This was not the first time.

12.24 Dr Giglio asked if the police investigated a drama lesson in which there was a name change.

Inspector Arnaud said a few weeks before the case there was a lesson of Form 1 students when Mr Tanti asked students to change names for the day. He changed his name to Cliff Dingli for that lesson. When asked about this by police, and if he picked that name for a reason, he did not reply.

12.22 Dr Sciriha asked about a teddy bear in Lisa Maria's room that had blades inside it.

Inspector Arnaud said he was not present during the police search but he was aware that there was a teddy bear that had blades since relatives or a friend told him about it.

12.15 Erin Tanti was aware that Lisa Maria was a vulnerable person, inspector Arnaud said. During his arrest Mr Tanti only spoke during the last part of interrogation - he said that on March 18 she left home in a panic and he knew about the problems she had. He then told police about her problems.

The police at that point asked him why he, as an adult and teacher, went ahead with what he did when he saw her panic. He said it did not cross his mind.

12.14 The inspector said the police found a poetry book which Erin Tanti gave Lisa Maria Zahra. In included poems on death and suicide.

12.13 One note to Lisa from Erin Tanti said: "Poppy, couldn't help. A cauliflower is a cabbage with a high school education, I already think you're a cauliflower. Exams mean shit but good luck anyway." In a Valantine's Day note he told her that life has no purpose and it was difficult to give purpose to this purposeless endeavour called life.

12.08 The note found at Erin's house did not mention death but was a two-liner that thanked his mother and that sort of thing. His note was in his car, folded, with the cash found there.

12.07 The inspector said that in the text messages Erin Tanti asked Lisa Maria if she wrote the suicide note. She said yes and he told her to ensure it was  found once they "do what we have to do".

12.04  Giannella de Marco, parte civile, asks: Who started talking on death and suicide? The inspector says it seems to have been Erin. The conversation lasted between 6.30 and 10.30pm in which Erin told Lisa what to do. Erin said (in the SMSs) he had all they need and he bought Aspirin. According to the messages she did not know what he had bought on March 18 because she asked him in a message.

12.01 Questioned about SMSs seen by the police, Inspector Arnaud said the court expert was asked to extract most important data such as chat logs between Mr Tanti and Ms Zahra. This was because the devices had lots of data that had to be processed, so the most important were prioritized.

1200 The inspector said that when the police noticed that Mr Tanti could incriminate himself, the necessary steps were taken.

Inspector Arnaud said he also spoke to Mr Tanti's friend, James, twice.

11.57 The lawyer asked about blood found in the house of Ms Zahra during police searches made after the missing person's  report was made.

The inspector said a towel with blood was found in her room and sent to a court expert.

He said that the first time he spoke to Mr Tanti, he did not do so with the psychiatrists' approval since there was an urgency to understand what happened. He was not in uniform at the time. When he realised that Mr Tanti had to be interrogated further, the psychiatrist was called in. When the police spoke to Mr Tanti for the first time, he was not yet a suspect. The police needed to establish facts to understand what happened.

11.53 Replying to questions by Dr Sciriha, Inspector Arnaud  said that in analyzing the computers and mobiles of Ms Tanti and Ms Zahra police asked for searches of any mentions of suicides.

He said police also looked at the site Omens of Darkness and Redrum. Omens of Darkness is a social network and the postings are "somewhat weird", he said.

11.51 Inspector Keith Arnaud exhibits the missing persons report of Mr Tanti and Ms Zahra and a document by the Zahra family in which they report that someone entered their residence in Naxxar.

11.46 The lawyer asks a series of technical questions and the inspector replies that she cannot answer since she was not involved. Questions include how information was gathered about Mr Tanti's Facebook account and details about how searches were carried out.

The lawyer then mentions Omens of Darkness within Tumblr.com and a certain Redrum. The inspector said she had not heard of them.

11.44 Asked about searches, the inspector said she was not present for the searches that took place in the homes of both Mr Tanti and Ms Zahra.

11.38 Lawyer Michael Sciriha, representing Mr Tanti, asked Inspector Briffa at what point was the psychiatrist called in before she spoke to Mr Tanti in hospital. Inspector Briffa said this happened before the police went to speak to Mr Tanti in ITU.

11.35 The inspector said Erin told the police he bought the Aspirin found in his possession from the Royal Pharmacy in Valletta.

The pharmacist was questioned by police. He remembered selling 300mg Aspirin that could be sold over the counter. Initially Erin Tanti  wanted one packet of Aspirin but then asked  for another two packets saying he wanted to keep them at home. He was on his own.

The inspector said that on March 25  Mr Tanti was discharged from Mater Dei and was taken to Mount Carmel Hospital. He was  interrogated but chose not to answer to most questions. He, however, replied during the last 45 minutes of questioning.

11.30 Erin Tanti released a statement to the police in which he described Lisa Maria as "troubled".

Erin Tanti's mother Caroline told the police said he had sought help from  Appogg. On 18 March he called her at 9.30 pm and told her: "Mum I want you to know that I love you no matter what."

He asked for his father's mobile number then told his sister he loved her too.

Erin also called his friend, James Muscat, to tell him he loved him. He later called his mother again and told her he loved her and and could not get through to his dad.

She said that on 20 March, the day after the jump, he reminded her that he had told her he was not well and would harm himself. He said he had contacted Appogg to speak to them.  Appogg did not contact him.

She said she knew Lisa Maria and had previously invited her to lunch.

Erin's father, Alexander, told the police the last time he saw his son was a few days previously. He did not live with the mother.

His father said he did not know if Erin had problems and Erin never asked for help since they were not much in contact.

11.20  Police Inspector Sylvana Briffa testified about the police investigations. She said she was informed by a police sergeant that Lisa Maria Zahra was reported missing by her brother Nicholas Zahra who said she was probably with Erin Tanti since he slept at her house the previous day. On March 18, they saw a Mazda parked outside the house. They did not check if someone was in her room but the maid said she saw a man leaving and getting into the Mazda. They checked CCTV and saw that the driver entered at 9pm and left the following day at 7am. Tony Zahra, Lisa Maria's father, was informed and he cut short his trip abroad.

Lisa Maria had not wanted to sleep at her brother's house and stayed at home.

A suicide note was found at home after she disappeared.

Erin Tanti's mother did not know where Erin was as he lived alone in a flat in Valletta. However a note said: "Dear mum, this has nothing to do with you. You always were and always have been."

A cash box was open and it was empty.

The last localisation on the mobile of Lisa Maria was in Naxxar at 9pm and Erin at 11pm also in Naxxar. 

At Lisa Maria's house a note was also found in her handwriting, as well as towels with blood. She tried to cut herself with a blade.

Later the police were told that a man was calling for help  at the  bottom of the cliffs. Erin was winched up by helicopter and taken to hospital by ambulance. Lisa Maria was found dead. Erin was conscious and when a police sergeant asked what happened, he said he was with Lisa Maria as he was dating her and that on March 18 he picked her up as they were going to flee from her father, who  did not approve of their relationship. They had to commit suicide.

11.15 Mr Tanti sits in the dock with his parents on one side and a nurse on the other.

The compilation of evidence started on Monday. See http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140407/local/updated-cliffs-fall-police-inspector-says-tantis-version-to-police-contradicted-by-sms-messages.513958