The partner of murdered man Matthew Zahra yesterday requested to be given a shoe, found at the site where his body was burnt and buried, to help bring closure for her.
Krystle Grixti’s lawyer Stefano Filletti said she needed psychological and emotional closure and it would help her if she was given – or even allowed to see – something of his, such as the flip-flop he was wearing the day he went missing.
The request was made in view of the fact that Mr Zahra’s bones have not yet been returned to the family because they had to be DNA tested.
As the request was being made, Ms Grixti began to cry as she stood at the back of the court room.
Clutching a tissue she wiped away her tears before being joined by Mr Zahra’s father, Vincent.
Mr Zahra’s bones were found a year after his body was burnt and buried at a field in Birżebbuġa, where the bodies of Mario Camilleri, also known as l-Imnieħru, and his 21-year-old son Mario Jr were also found.
Two men, Jason Galea, 39, from Marsa, and Ronald Urry, 49, of Paola, are pleading not guilty to killing Mr Zahra.
In separate proceedings, Mr Galea, together with George Galea, 41, of St Julian’s, are denying murdering the Camilleris. Mario Camilleri Sr is Jason Galea’s brother-in-law and Mario Camilleri Jr’s uncle.
In the sitting yesterday, defence lawyers Joe Giglio and Franco Debono did not object to the shoe being released and Magistrate Josette Demicoli upheld the request.
Taking the witness stand, court-appointed expert Marisa Cassar, who carried out DNA tests on the bones, said that while she could say that the DNA matched the Zahra family she could not conclusively say they belonged to Matthew.
The DNA matched that of siblings and cousins. The court decided that a process of elimination was to take place whereby it would be confirmed that no other cousins or siblings had died, therefore confirming the bones did in fact belong to the accused.
Fredrick Grixti, an employee of a company named Premier, told the court that he knew Jason Galea because the deceased had brought him to his office.
Mr Zahra’s father Vincent had purchased a property from the company and Mr Galea had promised to make good for €30,000 of the €100,000 sale price.
The agreement was for Mr Galea to pay the monthly instalments to Matthew Zahra who would then pay the balance, Mr Grixti said.
Payments were regular until Mr Zahra went missing. The company waited for some six months before contacting Mr Galea, who said that he had paid everything to the deceased and his father.
In a second phone call, Mr Galea told him not to call again about Mr Zahra because he had been given instructions by the police to call them if anyone spoke to him about Mr Zahra.
Later in the sitting, a request for bail was made by Dr Giglio and Dr Debono who argued that their clients, Jason Galea and Mr Urry, had been under arrest for close to 13 months and the proceedings had moved significantly forward.
The men should be granted bail as there were no obstacles to doing so.
Police Inspector Chris Pullicino strongly objected to bail being granted.
Magistrate Josette Demicoli reserved the right to consider the request at a later date.