A poem recounting the killing of the boy.

The murder of an abducted child has always been a rare event in Malta and for this reason the disappearance and murder of Ġużeppi Seguna – the Abbatini case – was one of the most brutal local murders of the 20th century. The murder took place when the police force was in time of crisis and blundered in certain major investigations, and the Abbatini case is a classic example of these police failures.

Early in the morning of Palm Sunday, April 12, 1908, Seguna, aged 10, the youngest son of Carmelo, a retired Customs guard, and his wife Margerita, left his parents’ house in Żabbar. Seguna said he was going to the parish church to serve Mass as he was an altar boy. On that day Seguna served Mass with Fr Vincent Pace.

The young boy was the darling of the village, extremely good looking, neat in his appearance and very devout. During school holidays Seguna used to attend a tailor’s shop to learn the trade. He also used to help his rich uncle who promised to bequeath to him his entire property, a piece of news that fuelled considerable envy among the rich man’s many nephews and relatives.

His rich uncle promised to bequeath to him his entire property, a piece of news that fuelled considerable envy among the rich man’s many nephews and relatives

On that fateful Sunday morning, Seguna met his 16-year-old cousin Franġisku Farrugia, known as il-Ble, outside the parish church, and the latter suggested that they go together to the Capuchin church of Santa Liberata, outside Vittoriosa, to get some blessed olive branches. The two boys were seen together both inside and outside the church by several people but that was the last anybody ever saw the young Seguna.

The court building in Kingsway (now Republic Street), Valletta, where Franġisku Farrugia confessed his crime.

In the afternoon, Seguna’s mother became very worried when her son failed to return home as this was unprecedented for the young boy. Worried sick, the Segunas and other relatives went searching for the missing boy in the streets of Żabbar. During the search the parents came to know that their son had last been seen with his cousin, Farrugia. Feeling instinctively that some mischief might have befallen him in this company, the Segunas went to Żabbar police station and filed a formal report.

Questioned by the police, Farrugia admitted that he had met his cousin after Mass that morning and that they had gone together to Santa Liberata church. However, according to Farrugia’s statement, after leaving the church at Vittoriosa, Seguna walked on towards Wied Għammieq while he (Farrugia) had returned home.

After this information the Segunas, other relatives and friends went to Wied Għammieq in search of the missing boy but the search had to be abandoned by nightfall. The search was, however, resumed the next morning with the assistance of members of the police force. The search continued during the following days but it was to no avail. It was said that the police carried out an extensive search for the missing boy.

Police Commandant Tancred Curmi and (right) Professor Caruana Gatto, counsel for the defence.

The days passed and still there were no signs of the boy although there were some rumours that the boy was seen in different localities. But when the police went to these places there was no sign of the boy. It was also reported that Seguna had been seen in Alexandria, Egypt, and some concluded that an Arab had abducted the boy.

Assistant Crown Advocate M.A. Refalo.

The desperate parents hoped and prayed that their beloved son was still alive, but as months passed and the sensational news of the missing boy began to fade, Seguna’s father died and the boy’s mother became insane and passed the rest of her life in the lunatic asylum. Mercifully, they were spared the horror of the truth. Meanwhile, the police did not continue their investigations to solve the crime.

On December 27, 1909, tormented by the guilt of murder, Farrugia went to the Courts of Judicial Police in Valletta and insisted on seeing a magistrate. Dr Annibale Fiteni had just finished his cases that morning and was preparing to leave the courtroom when the young man entered his office, and after asking if he was a magistrate, told him he had killed his cousin.

Noticing that the young man was under the influence of an overpowering excitement, Fiteni advised him to consider carefully what he was saying because, if he persisted with such a statement, there would be serious consequences. Still the young man repeated that he wanted to confess his crime and that he had killed his cousin.

Seguna’s father died and the boy’s mother became insane and passed the rest of her life in the lunatic asylum. Mercifully, they were spared the horror of the truth

Asked by the magistrate to identify himself, the young man said he was Franġisku Farrugia. He said that on Palm Sunday, the previous year, he had killed his cousin and kissed him after the murder. “He looked so beautiful when he was dead,” said Farrugia to the magistrate and the police. Farrugia also said that he had kicked the boy and dragged him into a catacomb at Fort Ricasoli ditch, and then closed the iron gate which was half open and returned home.

Chief Justice Sir Ġużeppi Carbone.

That afternoon the police, armed with lanterns and a stretcher, went to the place indicated by Farrugia, and some 60 paces inside the catacomb, found the mouldering skeleton of the missing boy. The skeleton was found in the exact location indicated.

On their return to police headquarters, the police questioned Farrugia again but his mental excitement had given way to a sudden depression and he had to be admitted to the mental hospital.

Following the discovery of the boy’s remains, the police were criticised for the way the search had been carried out after the disappearance of Seguna. It was angrily pointed out that the catacomb was an obvious place to search, but although the police confirmed that the place had been searched, many doubted whether it had been approached at all.

Farrugia was charged with Seguna’s murder, and the trial, presided over by Chief Justice Sir Ġużeppi Carbone, assisted by Judges Giovanni Pullicino and Alfred Parnis, started on January 16, 1911. Prior to the jury, the accused was remitted to the lunatic asylum and, after some months, he was certified to be of unsound mind.

During the trial, the question of insanity was raised ex-officio by the prosecution, Assistant Crown Advocate M.A. Refalo, and not by the defence counsel. At the time of the commission of the crime, the accused was a minor and thus the maximum penalty for homicide could not be applied against him. The worst punishment was imprisonment for 20 years, which by remission and amnesties would be halved. On the other hand, if he were declared a dangerous insane criminal he would be consigned to rigorous confinement in the asylum for the rest of his life.

This court procedure was questioned by Professor Caruana Gatto in the interest of his client; however, this exception was ruled out by the Chief Justice Carbone. The jury, by seven votes against two, found the accused to be of unsound mind and Farrugia was removed to the asylum where he died many years later.