A man accused of killing his estranged wife’s lover told jurors yesterday that his victim had used him as his suicide weapon because he had provoked him after having taken his wife and children.

Addressing jurors before they retire to deliberate on their verdict this morning, 65-year-old Martino Gatt, from St Paul’s Bay, said: “Just like someone who wants to commit suicide turns the gun on himself, he (the victim) turned me, as the weapon, on to himself.”

As he said that he was “at peace” and felt no remorse for what he had done, Mr Gatt added: “I hope he is happy in Heaven because he had enough time to ask God for forgiveness for what he had done to me.”

This was not sudden passion or a result of provocation but a planned, intentional, calculated murder

Mr Gatt, who refused to be represented by a lawyer, stands accused of killing Louis Ellul, 34, the partner of his estranged wife Joanne Bajada, by shooting him outside the church in Pembroke on December 2, 2007. He is also charged with injuring a 14-year-old girl who was hit by pellets.

Mr Gatt said that Mr Ellul had abandoned his own family and daughter and then “took possession of my children” and “intruded in my family life”.

His theory was, however, shot down by chief prosecutor Lara Lanfranco who told jurors today that what they had before them was a “clear-cut, cold-blooded” murder, for which Mr Gatt had to be punished.

She said Mr Gatt did not hesitate to shoot a man down at close range and felt no remorse.

Dr Lanfranco said that as Mr Gatt had admitted before them, he killed Mr Ellul in cold blood and had the cheek to blame his ex-wife for what he had done.

“The murder was premeditated as he went there with a weapon. He planned to kill him and did it in front of his wife, which was not a coincidence. This was not sudden passion or a result of provocation but it was a planned, intentional, calculated murder.”

Mr Gatt said he was “willing to accept a prison term... just like Christ accepted crucifixion”, prompting Dr Lanfranco to draw a religious parallel and remind him of the sixth Commandment: Thou shall not kill.

“Everyone has a limit. There was an outsider who took over my family and was doing all he could to keep me away from my own children,” Mr Gatt pleaded.

Mr Justice Michael Mallia will today end his address to jurors before they retire. Mr Gatt faces the rest of his life behind bars.