The accused David Zerafa

Updated - Adds defence submissions - Jurors in the trial of David Zerafa, who is accused of murdering Gozitan lawyer Michael Grech, are this morning hearing submissions by the prosecution and defence.

Philip Galea Farrugia from the Attorney General's office insisted the testimony by key witness Rodney Vella and Dr Grech's wife, Maria, was corroborated by facts.

Dr Galea Farrugia said it would have been impossible for Mr Vella to have known all the details of the facts of the murder unless he was told so by someone who was involved.

Mr Vella was one of two inmates who claimed that Mr Zerafa had confessed with them that he killed Dr Grech, giving them various details of what happened on that fateful night nine years ago. The other inmate, Steve Spiteri, has since died.

The prosecutor asked jurors to observe the demeanor of the accused in the dock when Mr Vella testified in court.

"He sat down throughout the jury even when Ms Grech testified but when Mr Vella took the witness stand he stood up," Dr Farrugia Galea said, implying this was a threatening gesture.

He insisted the details the inmates had such as the axe that Mr Zerafa kept at home could not have been known to them.

Dr Galea Farrugia told jurors the testimony given by Mr Vella and the police statement made by Mr Spiteri could not be considered to be hearsay evidence.

Mr Zerafa had admitted speaking to the inmates but later said he was bluffing.

The prosecutor insisted that the details the inmates gave - how the victim had escaped the first attempt when he was shot in the neck, how he was found in a pool of blood, how a car with two people inside had passed by and finally the beach room at Ramla which Mr Zerafa owned - could only have been told to them by someone involved in the murder.

The prosecutor said there was no doubt that Ms Grech had identified the accused twice in different police ID parades in 2005.

"The eyes of the accused are etched in her mind," he told jurors. Maria Grech's interest is to find her husband's killer guilty and nobody else, he added.

Dr Galea Farrugia said the facts of the case did not contradict anything the key witnesses said.

He then referred to the testimony by the accused's two brothers, Emanuel and Jeffrey Zerafa, who told the court yesterday their brother was sleeping at home at the time of the murder.

"Their testimony is identical... they were a clone of each other," he said casting doubt on the credibility of their testimony.

Dr Galea Farrugia described the murder as "a horrendous and horrific" act, urging jurors to reach their verdict.

DEFENCE SUBMISSIONS

Defence lawyer Malcolm Mifsud attacked the credibility of the prosecution's main witness describing Mr Vella as "the architect... the prime witness" and accusing him of "lying".

He said murder was a serious offence and jurors had a duty to hand down a guilty verdict only if they were convinced beyond reasonable doubt.

Dr Mifsud insisted that what Mr Vella claimed raised many doubts as to the veracity of his version.

"If Mr Vella lied in 2005 when he gave police his version of what Mr Zerafa was supposed to have told him and wanted to retract his testimony during the jury he would have faced a case of perjury," Dr Mifsud insisted, adding Mr Vella had no choice but to stick to his original version.

Dr Mifsud said Mr Vella's testimony was also confusing. "According to Mr Vella my client first attacked the lawyer with a baseball bat, then shot him and then attacked him again by a baseball bat. All this was supposed to have happened but the forensic expert said the head injury was caused by a single blow," Dr Mifsud noted.

He repeatedly said the prosecution was treating the inmates, who testified against Mr Zerafa as "court experts", suggesting at one point that they could have been the one's involved in the crime.

Dr Mifsud added that Mr Vella also said things that were not verifiable such as his statement that the lawyer was supposed to have said he recognized his assailant as Mr Zerafa. "This does not result from any proof put forward by the prosecution."

Dr Mifsud reminded jurors that no proof of blood was found in the Ramla l-Hamra beach room belonging to Mr Zerafa and they could not assume there might have been blood because the expert said it is possible for blood stains to disappear.

Quoting from submissions police inspector Chris Pullicino made during the compilation of evidence in 2005, Dr Mifsud said the police had received information that there were persons who had information on the Grech murder on July 6 of that year.

Dr Mifsud said it was impossible for Mr Vella to have got the details of the murder from Mr Zerafa on July 6. "My client only spoke to Rodney Vella on the evening of July 6 and all he told him was that he had once been interrogated by the police on the Grech murder."

Dr Mifsud insisted that Mr Vella was either given the story by someone else and decided to pin it on Mr Zerafa or else he was present for the murder.

Turning to Ms Grech's evidence that she recognized the accused from his eyes, Dr Mifsud insisted it was impossible to identify a man by looking at his eyes for a split second.

He urged jurors to take note of the testimony by Mr Zerafa's brothers. "If they wanted to produce a perfect alibi they could have said their brother was in their presence at 10pm (the time the murder took place) but they testified that their brother walked up to his room at around 9pm and did not hear him go back out."

Dr Mifsud insisted the accused could not have been at Marsalforn at 10pm and could not have been the person who hit Dr Grech with a baseball bat because at that time he was sleeping or watching TV at his parents' house in Nadur.

There were enough doubts to find the accused not guilty of the crimes he was accused of, Dr Mifsud said, urging jurors to be clinical in their assessment. "Unlike any other job, you cannot make a mistake," he insisted.

Judge Lawrence Quintano then adjourned the trial for Monday when he is expected to address jurors before they start deliberating.