A man who killed his wife with a butcher’s knife near a bus stop had no right to inherit her estate, a judge ruled yesterday.

Roger Agius, 49, attacked his wife, Catherine, as she alighted from a bus in Tarxien on her way home in July 2009.

He pleaded guilty to the murder before facing a trial by jury and was sentenced to 31 years in jail.

Shortly afterwards, his children’s maternal grandmother filed an application in the civil court to ensure he would inherit nothing from their mother.

Consiglia Degiorgio told the court that her daughter had died intestate and that, according to law, her children would inherit one-half of her estate between them while Mr Agius, as the surviving spouse, was entitled to inherit the remaining half.

Mr Justice Lino Farrugia Sacco, sitting in the First Hall of the Civil Court, noted that the Civil Code provided that a person who murdered another person was not entitled at law to inherit such person on grounds of unworthiness.

The court, therefore, concluded that Mr Agius was not worthy to benefit from the inheritance of his murdered wife and that her estate was to be enjoyed only by her children.