Ronnie Azzopardi, 41 of Cospicua, went on trial today, facing one charge of murder and four counts of attempted murder when he allegedly planted a bomb in Zejtun on June 18, 2005.
Mr Azzopardi, 41, is charged with the murder of Angela Bondin and with trying to kill Mary Rose Cassar and her sons Jesmar, 7, Jean Leon, 4, and 20-month old Kevin.
He is also charged with seriously injuring Therese Grima.
Angela Bondin, 48, died as a result of the burns she suffered in the explosion. Tessie Grima, 60, was seriously injured when the bomb went off at about 12.45 p.m. in a garage in Triq il-Madonna tal-Hniena, Zejtun.
The police had suspected that the intended victim of the bomb was a woman from Cottonera who was known to visit her mother in Zejtun every day and always parked her car at the same place at the same time.
The two victims had nothing to do with the case.
From the roof of her house, Ms Grima had noticed a person leaving a bag by a car in her street at about 10.30 a.m. She called out to the man not to leave the bag there as it was the weekend and rubbish would remain uncollected and fester. But the man ignored her.
Later in the day, Ms Grima decided to remove the bag herself but she found it too heavy to handle on her own and so called Ms Bondin, who happened to be there at the time, to help her.
The two women threw the bag in a garage under construction and as they chatted in the middle of the road an explosion occurred.
During the compilation of evidence, Mary Rose Cassar told a court how Ronnie Azzopardi, the brother of her murdered partner threatened to kill her, her children and anyone else close to her because he wanted to get his hands on a Mercedes she had inherited.
The former partner, Jason Azzopardi, had been shot dead in Cospicua in 2001 and his brother Ronnie insisted that the (deceased's) Mercedes belonged to him.
Testifying today, Police Superintendent Carmelo Bartolo repeated the above details.
ACCUSED TRIED TO HIRE A KILLER
He said the police arrested the accused and a search was carried out. He said that during an identification parade, Joseph Grima immediately identified the accused as the person who dropped off the bag.
He said he was approached by a social worker who said that his client, Matthew Pace, had told him that the accused had approach him and asked him to kill Mary Rose Cassar. He refused outright.
He spoke to Mr Pace who confirmed everything. He said that the accused had been prepared to provide a gun, transport and payment.
He had kept quiet about this and only told the closest person to him, the social worker.