A court this morning continued to hear evidence into the death of teenager Lisa Marie-Zahra at the foot of Dingli Ciffs last March 19.
The evidence is part of the compilation of evidence against Ms Zahra’s former teacher Erin Tanti, who stands accused of her murder and of encouraging her to commit suicide.
Steven Farrugia Sacco, a court IT expert said he had downloaded conversations by the victim on Ask.fm. He found that her account was suspended so he took snapshots from her linked Facebook account.
He did not know why Ask.FM suspended the account but most probably this was suspended by the site itself. He did not know when the account was suspended.
Dr Maria Grech, who worked at the hospital emergency department, said that on March 19 she examined Erin Tanti and found he was suffering grievous injures. He was still conscious but she did not recall what he had told her.
Psychiatrist Joseph Spiteri confirmed he issued a certificate for Erin Tanti on March 20, 2014. He had been appointed by the court to see whether Mr Tanti could be interrogated by the police and his conclusion was that he could.
TANTI'S ACCOUNT TO AMBULANCE TEAM
Patrick Camilleri, a nurse at Mater Dei Hospital, said he was in the team that was called to help a person at Dingli Cliffs on March 19 at about 5pm. A helicopter lifted the victim to the cliff edge and they transferred him to the ambulance.
Mr Tanti had said he was with a girl. They had taken pills because they had intended to commit suicide. When that was not enough she jumped and he panicked and jumped after her.
The witness said he asked Mr Tanti if he had psychiatric problems. He replied that he had seen someone but did not have such problems
Mr Tanti had said he was not accepted by the family of his girlfriend. He mentioned her father and his brother, who he said had reprimanded him a few days earlier.
The ambulance team was still on site when Lisa-Marie Zahra was brought up. Erin Tanti never asked after her.
"I had to ask him because he never mentioned her" Mr Camilleri told the court.
PS Antoine Zammit, from Naxxar police station said he had gone to Dingli Cliffs and seen a helicopter lifting a person. The police found a car, a jacket, trousers and a pair of shoes. Inside the car were a bottle of whisky and €2,000 in cash in an envelope, some cheques and two mobile phones.
They also found three boxes of aspirin. No notes were found inside the car.
Police officer Darren Micallef, a CID officer, spoke on Mr Tanti's arrest and said Mr Tanti refused to consult with a lawyer.
VICTIM'S FATHER TAKEN ILL IN COURT
At this point, Tony Zahra, Lisa Marie's father, was taken out of the courtroom after feeling unwell.
Mark Ciangura said he knew Lisa Marie because he used to go to the Zahra residence every day. He used to look after Lisa Marie when Mr Zahra was abroad.
On March 18, he went there as usual just after 6am. He found a car with dew on it parked in front of the main gate in San Pawl tat-Targa.
He left and when he arrived at work he received a call from the housekeeper saying she had heard a noise in Lisa Marie's room. He returned to the house, by which time the car was gone.
He checked the CCTV and saw a person, who, according to the footage had gone to the house the previous night, leaving. Lisa Marie had gone in using the kitchen door. Mr Tanti remained on the porch and then she opened the door.
The witness said he called Lisa Marie's brother, Nick, told him about what had happened and asked him to email his father who was abroad at the time. Some time later Nick called the witness again and asked him if he knew who the person was. He also asked him to see footage again. The witness said he did, and found that the same man had also been in the house the day before.
He informed the brother, who spoke to his father and asked him to file a police report.
Time passed and he received a call from the Zahra residence. It was Lisa Marie who told him she needed to speak to him because he had called her dad. He left work and went to the house to speak to her.
He found the girl on the phone and she was also sending messages on her cell phone. Mr Zahra had told him to take her mobile phone, so he did.
The witness said the girl lay down in her bed, crying. He continued to speak to her until she stopped. Then he and Nick went to a police station to file the report. Tanya, Lisa Marie's cousin, stayed with her.
Mr Ciangura said he had told Lisa Marie that it was not right to take people home while her father was abroad and that she was still under age.
Replying to questions, Mr Ciangura said he had googled Mr Tanti's name and found he was involved in drama. He did not know what was going on between him and Lisa Marie.
He said he left the residence at about 7.30pm.
The following morning Nick called to say he had a problem because he ould not find Lisa Marie anywhere. They could not see anything on the CCTV so they went to the police station to file a missing person report. They then went to the girl's bedroom and found that her purse, ID card and passport were there.
Meanwhile, Mr Zahra, Lisa Marie's father, had arrived. He called several people in an effort to find out where she was. He went to her bedroom where the police were and then to the police headquarters.
Replying to more questions, Mr Ciangura said he remembered seeing scratches on Lisa Marie's left arm. They were not deep cuts, so he did not worry much about them. He had asked for the blades and she gave him a razor blade which she took out of a teddy bear. He threw the blade away. The scratches, he said, were fresh and he had seen them for the first time.
The sitting was adjourned.