After more than 14 hours of deliberation, jurors in the murder trial of a Gozitan warden yesterday failed to return a verdict.
The jury retired to deliberate at 11 a.m. yesterday and stopped at 1.20 this morning. They are expected to continue deliberating today at 10 a.m.
The accused, bus driver Ġanni Attard also known as Il-Muħa is charged with stabbing to death traffic warden Fortunata Spiteri on August 10, 2001.
The four-day trial was characterised by overwhelming evidence against 64-year-old Mr Attard who was the second person to stand trial after Benny Attard, 57, admitted to his involvement in the murder last year and was imprisoned for 30 years.
The two men stabbed Mrs Spiteri five times, severely damaging both her aorta and another main vein, the vena cava, leaving her for dead on the ground with massive internal bleeding. Fighting for her life, Mrs Spiteri managed to make it to her car but passed out on the steering wheel only to be found by passersby minutes later. She was declared dead on arrival at the hospital.
A third man, Giuseppe Farrugia, was also implicated but died before proceedings had ended.
Lawyer Lara Lanfranco, from the Attorney General’s Office, told the court on Thursday the evidence produced was corroborated forensically, which validated the statements given by Mr Farrugia, Benny Attard and his sister, Maria, who all pointed their finger at the bus driver.
On the night of the murder, all three were picked up by Ġanni Attard who allegedly commissioned the murder after being booked on a number of occasions by the victim.
Mr Attard forcefully denied this. The prosecution insisted that the reason he did so was because there were three other people who contradicted his version and he knew it.
At the end of the trial, Mr Justice Mallia thanked the lawyers for the professionalism and the “exemplary” manner in which they treated both each other and the court. He noted the proceedings were carried out in a calm and serene manner, which benefitted the administration of justice.
Lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace appeared for Mr Attard.