A doctor and court appointed expert, Mario Scerri, said today that a Ukrainian woman who died when she was allegedly pushed down a lift shaft last year, had been in agony for hours.

Sergei Nkytiuk, 37, stands accused of the murder of his wife Liudymyla in a block of flats in St Paul's Bay on November 9.

Dr Scerri told a court that when he arrived on the scene, he was under the impression that he would be dealing with a suicide. He examined the woman's body and found that her trousers had been pushed down. Later, the autopsy showed grip marks and scratches on the body, which were factors which ruled out suicide. There were also lesions which were compatible with the fall. The victim had a fractured pelvis which had in turn torn a major artery. The woman did not die instantly but lost a lot of blood and died a few hours later.

Had the woman been given medical attention soon after the fall, there was a very big chance that she would have survived, Dr Scerri told the court.

Prof Hector Galea said the accused had 18 bite marks all over his body. Seventeen were compatible with the victim's teeth and the last one was caused by the accused.

Asked by Magistrate Saviour Demicoli about how fresh the bite marks were, Prof Galea said that it was difficult to establish. But he had two marks on his arm which were made 24 to 48 hours before his wife died.

The victim had four bite marks, on her breast and on a shoulder. The ones on the breasts were love bites by the accused.