Yana Mintoff Bland listened attentively today as criminal proceedings against a man charged with stabbing her and her son before setting fire to her house continued.
Romanian Gheorghe Popa, 39, Ms Mintoff Bland’s former partner allegedly stabbed her and her son before setting fire to her house in Tarxien.
Mr Popa sat in the dock assisted by an interpreter, as several witnesses summoned by the prosecution shed further light upon the unfolding of events on that fateful October 24 evening last year.
A police officer commissioned to photograph the scene of crime testified that there was great commotion at the Tarxien residence when he arrived at around 11.45pm. Smoke was billowing out of the house and firemen were attempting to put out the blaze.
Once the fire had been extinguished, the witness entered the house even though smoke could still be seen. This was against normal safety procedures but he took the risk to make sure that he would capture all evidence on the scene of the crime.
Yana Mintoff Bland
The officer recalled how the ground floor of the house was gutted by the fire, which had even led to the partial collapse of the ceiling, rendering a section of the first floor inaccessible. However, pictures were taken on the first floor terrace as well as on the roof where several blood stains were observed.
Another scene of crime officer recalled under oath how he had recovered a knife from the ground at the base of a tree which reached up to roof level outside the house. A reddish liquid was noticed dripping from the tree branches, yet at the time the investigators were not yet aware that Mr Popa was hidden among the branches.
Leaving the reddish marks at the base of the tree, the officer recalled how he had entered the house and proceeded to follow the red-coloured trail from the ground floor onto the upper parts of the building. Reaching the roof, the witness had personally removed a lit cigarette stub from the ground and a mobile phone which had been placed on the water tank.
Another officer stationed at the Paola Police Station on the evening of the incident testified that, after receiving information of the aggression in Tarxien, he had accompanied Inspector Spiridione Zammit to the scene of crime.
In the presence of a family friend who had access to the Mintoff Bland residence, the police had first surrounded the premises to make sure that the aggressor would not escape via a secondary exit and then entered the house amid a strong stench of burning.
Finding no sign of the alleged aggressor inside the house, the witness recalled how the investigators were alerted to the man's presence up the tree by the pine cones which occasionally fell down to the spot where the knife and blood stains had been found.
The witness recalled how a police inspector and a doctor, after closer inspection had discovered a wounded Mr Popa up the tree. After being lifted down to safety, the man was photographed as he lay on the ground beneath the tree with part of his intestines bulging out through the stab wound in his stomach.
The case continues in May before Magistrate Joseph Mifsud, who is presiding over the compilation of evidence.
Lawyer Benjamin Valenzia was counsel to the accused. Lawyer Joseph Giglio appeared parte civile.