The murderer of lawyer Margaret Mifsud, who was found dead in her car at Qalet Marku in Baħar ic-Caghaq on April 19, 2012, is still on the run, the accused’s lawyer, Martin Testaferrata Moroni Viani said in court this morning.

Addressing jurors, he said the state had wasted its resources because of prejudice. His client, the victim’s former husband and father of her two daughter, Nizar El Gadi, had been “framed” because he was a Libyan.

Dr Testaferrata Moroni Viani told the jury that had his client killed Dr Mifsud, he would have caught the first plane or boat and fled the country.

On their part, the prosecution said that DNA evidence clearly showed that the last person Dr Mifsud was in contact with before she was murdered was Mr El Gadi.

"He would have continued looking in her eyes while strangling her. It takes extreme cruelty," assistant Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia said.

Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi is in process of addressing the jury before it starts deliberations.

Dr Galea Farrugia and Gianella Busuttil are leading the prosecution while Kathleen Grima and Arthur Azzopardi are appearing parte civile on behalf of the victim’s family.