The widow of a Gozitan lawyer murdered last year recognised her husband's aggressor and the man who had pointed a gun at her on that fateful night because of the particular shape of his eyes, a court was told yesterday.

The court, presided over by Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, yesterday heard Police Superintendent Pierre Calleja testify in the compilation of evidence against David Zerafa, 31, of Nadur, presently residing at St Michael's Ward - a ward for prisoners in St Luke's Hospital. He is being accused, among other charges, of the murder of lawyer Michael Grech in May 2004.

Mr Calleja explained to the court how the accused had narrated in great detail to two persons how he had committed the murder. When confronted with the two witnesses, the accused had originally denied having said anything of the sort but later admitted giving details about the murder, adding he was only bluffing and joking.

When testifying about investigations, the witness told the court that on the night of the murder, Maria Grech, the victim's wife, had told the police she had heard a gunshot at about 10 p.m. coming from the common parts of the block of flats where her family resided.

After phoning up the family who lived on the ground floor, she had opened the door of her apartment and saw a hooded person. She could only see his eyes. He had pointed a firearm in her direction and, with difficulty, she had succeeded to close the door. She was the one who had found her dead husband, lying face down in a garage at ground floor level.

Mr Calleja explained that over the past days the victim's wife had been asked to try to identify the aggressor from a chart prepared by the police.

She was shown pictures of nine hooded men and had chosen the picture of the accused because of the particular shape of his eyes. In her own words, the aggressor's eyes were almond-shaped.

Later she had also been asked to identify the accused in a police line-up consisting of nine people and again Mrs Grech had singled out the accused because of his eyes. These identifications were made in the presence of Magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona conducting the criminal inquiry.

The witness also described in detail the scene of the crime and explained that the victim had been found lying face down in a garage under construction next to the block of apartments where Dr Grech resided with his family.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the victim died as a result of several blows to his head caused by a blunt object. Several blood splatters were noticed in the garage where the body was found.

In front of the victim's apartment the police had found the lawyer's briefcase. A pool of blood was also found in Xtut Street, corner with the block of apartments where the victim resided.

A trail of blood could also be seen leading from Xtut Street to the garage where the body was found.

Police Inspector Chris Pullicino referred to information given by two persons who preferred to remain anonymous and who on the night of the murder drove through St Mary Street. They had seen two hooded men leaving a garage, walking briskly holding some papers in hand. They had eventually been seen entering a building still under construction in the same road.

On the day following the murder, several people known to the police had been asked to go voluntarily to the Victoria police station to report on their whereabouts on the night of the murder.

Among them was the accused who, at the time, had informed the police that the night before he was at his mother's home in Nadur with his two brothers and that he had been sleeping by 9.30 p.m.

However, Inspector Pullicino told the court that when, over the past days, the accused had been asked about his whereabouts on the night of the murder, Mr Zerafa had changed his version saying he had slept in Malta because of bad weather. He added that he had crossed to Gozo on the morrow and that he had gone straight to bed until he was called to go to the Victoria police station. When confronted with the different version he had given to the police way back in May 2004, the accused had chosen not to reply to any further questions about his alibi.

Inspector Pullicino said that on June 1, 2004 an anonymous person had called the police headquarters saying that the person behind Dr Grech's murder was Mr Zerafa and that the motive was because the lawyer had assisted the accused's wife during separation proceedings.

On July 6 this year, Inspector Pullicino said he had received information from two people at St Michael's Ward that the accused had told them in great detail about his involvement in the murder.

The accused had told them that together with another person they had waited for Dr Grech in the common parts of the block of apartments where he resided in Marsalforn.

As soon as he reached his apartment, they had assaulted the victim and Mr Zerafa also told them he had used a firearm but according to him the victim had not been hit and had escaped.

The aggressors managed to reach the victim in the street where again he tried to run away from them and they assaulted him with a baseball bat. After dragging him unconsciously into a garage, they continued to hit him and then escaped.

Mr Zerafa also told them that two people had seen them as they left the garage.

The accused told the two people - who for the moment remain unnamed by the prosecution - how after the murder, together with his accomplice, he had gone to a room which his family have in Ramla l-Hamra, in Nadur. There they changed their blood-stained clothes and it was only the day after that he noticed there were also blood stains on the floor.

Mr Zerafa had also told the two informers he had long been planning to eliminate Dr Grech because he was responsible for the his family's break-down because he had assisted his wife in the separation proceedings.

When confronted with the two informers, the accused at first denied saying anything of the sort but later admitted he had only been bluffing and joking.

Inspector Pullicino testified that when he had arrested the accused in connection with the case he had only informed him that he was being investigated about a murder, without mentioning which murder. However, on his own initiative, the accused immediately referred to the lawyer's murder and explained that he was from Nadur, that he had lived for some time in Santa Maria Street, Marsalforn and that Dr Grech had been his wife's lawyer.

Lawyers Anton Refalo and Vincent Galea are defence counsel.

Dr Emmanuel Mallia appeared in parte civile.

The case continues.