Murder suspect Andrew Mangion claimed under interrogation that two armed men grabbed his wife when she was leaving his Swieqi garage and murdered her before his very eyes, a court heard today.

Mr Mangion, 40, last week pleaded not guilty to murdering his estranged wife Eleanor Mangion Walker.

Her body was found by the police dumped in a Qormi warehouse on July 3, after a tipoff  from Mr Mangion’s uncle Grezzju Micallef.

Magistrate Doreen Clarke heard how Mr Mangion asked for his uncle’s help to move the body.

Mr Micallef refused and informed the police about the murder.

Police inspector Keith Arnaud told the court how traces of Ms Mangion Walker’s blood were found in her husband’s Swieqi garage, as well as his Hyundai van.

Mr Mangion turned himself into the police a few days after the murder.

Inspector Arnaud testified that Mr Mangion  was immediately taken to Mater Dei hospital for examination.

On arrival, Mr Mangion told the doctor examining him that he would have been better off had he committed suicide, Insp. Arnaud said.

The doctor immediately referred Mr Mangion to Mount Carmel Hospital.

He was only questioned by the police about the murder on July 12 after being discharged from hospital.

Images from CCTV footage taken from around Ms Mangion Walker’s residence and the garage in the same road showed the two making three trips to the garage to carry furniture on July 2, the last time she was seen alive.

On the last trip, Mr Mangion was seen in the vicinity of the garage 50 minutes after he had entered, Mr Arnaud said. Ms Mangion Walker was never seen emerging again.

Mr Arnaud recalled how under interrogation, Mr Mangion told the police that as soon as his wife left the garage, she was grabbed by two men armed with pistols and dragged back inside.

He told police that the two men held both of them at gunpoint, while one of the men warned his wife that they had told her “to stop”.

One of the men got a plank of wood out of a shoulder bag and repeatedly bashed Ms Mangion Walker on the head with it, Mr Mangion told the police.

Mr Mangion said he panicked once the two men fled as he feared he would be blamed for his wife’s murder.

He said under interrogation that he closed the garage door and proceeded to clean up the evidence, using hydrochloric acid to clear away the blood stains.

He placed his wife in a windsurfing bag and took her to the Qormi warehouse.

Inspector Arnaud said the suspect was unable to recall if he had dumped Ms Mangion Walker’s body there on the day of the murder or the following day.

He told the police that his potential plan was to burn his wife’s body.

He told the police that his potential plan was to burn his wife’s body.- Inspector

Mr Mangion told police that he then went back home, burned some clothing items and threw away his mobile in Birkirkara so that he would not be found.

He then hid in a family field for two days before contacting his employer for help.

During the interrogation, Insp. Arnaud said the suspect did not answer when asked why he thought he would be blamed for the murder.

Mr Arnaud pointed out to him that there was no history of domestic violence between the two.

Mr Mangion was asked during the interrogation why he closed the garage door, did not touch his wife’s body to confirm she was dead and did not call his neighbours or the police for help.

Mr Mangion’s answer to all these questions was that he kept saying he was scared he would be blamed for the murder.

Asked why he sent his wife several text message after she was dead, Mr Mangion told the police that he did this to keep up the premise that he had nothing to do with her death.

Lawyer Joe Giglio is appearing for the accused while lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha are appearing for the victim’s family. 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.