The man accused of shooting dead his former girlfriend at Mġarr two years ago was yesterday charged with defrauding her father of some €12,000 in the months before the murder.
Kenneth Gafà, 39, from Marsa, told Lino Sammut, the father of 40-year-old victim Christine, that he wanted to open a rabbit farm with him but needed money for the initial outlay, Police Inspector Maurice Curmi testified.
The inspector said Mr Sammut, who died on August 11, had made a report to the police with his daughter about the incident in June 2010 where they described how Mr Gafà swindled them out of €11,800. They told the police they handed over €7,000 in cash to open the rabbit farm, followed by varying amounts that exceeded €700 each time after he fabricated a series of lies.
One of them was that he had to privately hospitalise his mother, the inspector said.
Taking the witness stand, Mr Sammut’s son James gave a conflicting version of events, saying his father had told him he handed over a full €11,800 in cash and not through payments.
He said that in the months leading up to his sister’s murder in December 2010, Mr Gafà was with his father practically every day.
But as soon he got the money he fled and was not seen again until some three months later.
They managed to track him down and he promised to pay the money back, formalising the agreement before a notary.
He added that they even tried to help him by asking for repayments of just €100 a month.
A couple of months later his sister was killed by Mr Gafà, he said. The case continues.
Ms Sammut was shot dead while sitting in a car. Mr Gafà told the police he never meant to hurt her but only scare her when he fired a shotgun at her, a court heard last week during the murder case.
Mr Gafà is currently in prison after failing to pay the €15,000 bail bond granted to him in the murder case. Last week he made a request to have the amount made more affordable.
Lawyer Joe Giglio appeared for Mr Gafà while lawyers Emmanuel Mallia, Arthur Azzopardi and Kathleen Grima appeared for the victims.