The 20-year-old woman whose badly decomposed body was found at sea over a decade ago was probably injected with heroin by someone shortly before she died, a forensic expert said.
Mario Scerri said Therese Agius died of acute heart failure that could have been triggered by a heroin overdose that led to the shutting down of her respiratory system and heart failure.
He was testifying, before Mr Justice Lawrence Quintano in the trial of Joseph Azzopardi, 40, of Tarxien who is pleading not guilty to the murder of Ms Agius and trafficking in heroin on October 1, 1999.
The prosecution is claiming that Mr Azzopardi injected Ms Agius with the drug, on her request, in the Gżira apartment she rented to prostitute herself. The girl overdosed and the accused allegedly tied her body with a rope and dumped her into the sea.
Dr Scerri ruled out drowning as cause of death adding Ms Agius was already dead when she was thrown into the sea.
He said the global picture painted by the forensic evidence was that it was “probable” that Ms Agius had been injected with an opiate (as is heroin) shortly before she died.
Dr Scerri said there was evidence of a fresh needle mark on her left hand that could be traced through haemorrhaging beneath the skin. Toxicology results showed traces of morphine that was the result of heroin breaking down in the body. At the time, in 1999, there was a lot of pure heroin on the streets that could easily lead to an overdose.
He said there were no obvious signs of violence on the victim’s body that had scars compatible to fish bites on it.
The autopsy, which he attended, could not give a clear cause of death. However, other means, including the toxicology tests, showed it was probable sometime before her death she took an opiate drug that was injected into her hand not long before she died. The state of the body’s decomposition made it difficult to determine the volume of substance that had been injected into Ms Agius, he said.
Although it was possible that Ms Agius could have injected herself, one had to question whether she then tied herself up with the rope, Dr Scerri said.
He added there existed an antidote to opiate overdoses that could save a life if administered in time.
After being reported missing on October 2, 1999, Ms Agius’ body was found 11 miles off the Delimara coast on October 12. It was in a bad state of decomposition and was tied with a blue rope that went around her neck, bound her wrists at the back and then wrapped around her ankles. This led the police to threat the case as a murder investigation.
Former Police Inspector David Saliba yesterday spoke about his involvement in the case.
He explained how a friend of Ms Agius, Pawlu Micallef, known as Body Builder, told the police he had seen Mr Azzopardi inject Ms Agius with heroin on her request. Ms Agius overdosed and started foaming at the mouth and lost consciousness. Mr Micallef told the police he then saw Mr Azzopardi wrap the young woman in a sheet and carry her to his van.
Mr Micallef, who died in 2006, later said Mr Azzopardi told him he had disposed of the body by “anchoring it at sea”.
Lawyer Aaron Bugeja, from the Attorney General’s Office, is prosecuting. Lawyer Malcolm Mifsud is defence counsel.