The man sentenced to life imprisonment after stabbing his partner 49 times in front of their daughter has told The Sunday Times that he is paying too high a price for his "mistake".
Speaking in a telephone interview from the Corradino Correctional Facility, David Norbert Schembri said: "Don't go thinking that I don't want to pay for what I did. I do, but I don't feel I should have been given life.
"Had I been given up to 25 years, I would have been paying for what I did. But like this... I will be paying much more than I should. I don't deserve life in prison."
Mr Schembri was last Thursday found guilty of murdering Josette Scicluna, 32, his former partner and mother of his child, in May 2004. His lawyer is expected to file an appeal tomorrow. His daughter, then aged seven, had witnessed the first part of the murder before she was taken away by a neighbour.
Mr Schembri said yesterday he had not been following the debate surrounding his case. When it was pointed out that some people argued that such heinous crimes deserved the death penalty, he was stunned.
"Is that what they're saying? People are even going around saying all sorts of things about my family, that I come from dodgy family... but it's not true and the people who know them can confirm this. My family has nothing to do with this. They are suffering."
Mr Schembri had broken into the apartment at around 6.30 p.m., as Ms Scicluna and her daughter were having dinner, shooting the door open with a semi-automatic pistol. He had gone there to pick up some clothes as the couple were going their separate ways for good.
When it was put to him that his victim had paid an even bigger price without having any guilt, he replied: "Yes, she paid with her life, it's true... but should a person who made a mistake pay with his entire life?... If I had the intention to do this then I should have paid with life but I did not have the intention to do this to her... I am hurt. I am very hurt."
Asked whether he had any remorse for what he had done, in a high pitched, nervous tone, he said: "Of course, I carry around her picture and pray to her everyday... I pray to her directly. I have her picture and perhaps I should have used this (in court) but I didn't... I pray to her... She didn't deserve a scratch..."
A medical court expert who gave evidence described the attack as "extreme cruelty". When her autopsy pictures were shown in the court room, the only female juror on the panel up to that point excused herself as she could not bear to see the images.
The case has predictably attracted a lot of attention but one of the details which stood out was when he turned to the family on his way out of the court room on Thursday and said: "I'm still alive, I'm still alive".
When asked about this, he insisted the comment was not directed at the family but at a probation officer, one of Ms Scicluna's former neighbours and a witness in the case who, according to the convict, was smiling after the sentence.
"It was their wish from the beginning (that he be sentenced to life imprisonment) and I reacted to that. I wanted to say, what are you laughing at, I'm alive, there is hope... I couldn't take that laugh."
mmicallef@timesofmalta.com