Jurors in a murder trial were yesterday taken to the picturesque Marsalforn Bay and shown the garage where the victim was beaten to death with a baseball bat.

Just metres from the shoreline where tourists were enjoying the sun, the solemn group of dark-suited court officials, including the presiding judge, Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano, and lawyers, were shown the spot where lawyer Michael Grech was found by his wife, Maria, nine years ago.

Ms Grech, accompanied by her daughter, Deborah, indicated to the jury panel members the common entrance of their flat where Dr Grech had been shot and the side street to where he fled before being dragged face down to the garage and hit on the head on May 24, 2004.

Tourists at the bay were taken by surprise by the arrival of police and other official cars

The accused – David Zerafa, 39, of Nadur – was escorted by five police officers who kept a close watch on his every move as he followed the proceedings on the scene of crime.

The court officials were led inside an apartment block where they were given an explanation of how Ms Grech had opened the front door of her family’s flat after hearing a gunshot and what sounded like a scuffle, only to come face to face with her husband’s aggressor.

She told the trial on Wednesday she could never forget the shape of the aggressor’s eyes. More than a year after her husband’s death, she picked the accused from a number of masked men in an identification parade organised by the police after they received information about the murder.

Following a tour of the crime scene, which lasted about an hour, the jurors were taken to Ramla Bay, where, according to the prosecution, the accused, together with an accomplice, had disposed of their clothes in a room he owned on the bay.

Tourists at a cafe at the entrance of the bay were taken by surprise by the arrival of police and other official cars and when those inside alighted and began inspecting the area.

The situation became even more dramatic as an Armed Forces of Malta helicopter happened to be hovering above.

Jurors walked to the back of the cafe from where they could get a good view of the room.

This was preferred to actually taking them to the spot given the sort of the terrain – including sand and fields – there, which would have been difficult to walk over.

The trial is expected to continue this morning with witnesses for the defence being heard.

On Monday, the court heard Stephen Spiteri, who has since died, and Rodney Vella had told police that while they were together in St Michael’s Ward at St Luke’s Hospital, Mr Zerafa told them he killed the lawyer who had represented his former wife and also had an affair with her.