A man killed inside his Mellieħa home on July 2 last year died of a stab wound that penetrated his heart, a pathologist who examined his corpse has testified. 

Ali Salfraz said Marcelino Montalban Saraza had also been stabbed a second time, in the neck, but that very deep blow was dealt after he had already died.

Salfraz was testifying in the compilation of evidence against Mayumi Santos Patacsil, 44, who stands accused of having murdered Saraza, who was her partner.

Both are Filippino nationals who lived in the Triq il-Fortizza residence.

Police discovered the victim’s dead body after they were led to the scene by the suspect herself.  Saraza was found face-down on the kitchen floor with stab wounds to his neck and chest, covered with a sheet.

Salfraz explained that the primary wound that had caused the man’s death was the one in the abdomen which had penetrated his heart. The second stab wound in the neck had very little blood around it, indicating that it had been dealt post mortem.

Drinks, then insults and threats

In previous court hearings, Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo heard how following the alleged stabbing at around 2.04 am, the accused had filed a report with officers from the police’s Domestic Violence Unit.

Patacsil had told police how her partner Marcelino had been drinking beer at the couple’s home when he began to insult her, threatening to kill her and her family, testified PC Josianne Vassallo.

He then went into the kitchen, grabbed a brown-handled knife and threatened to “cut off her head,” the woman had told police, showing them injuries on both her palms as well as bite marks.

That was when she had reacted, kicking him in his private parts in self-defence.

As Marcelino lay on the floor, he had allegedly turned the knife against his stomach in an act of self-harm, his partner had told the officers at the Domestic Violence Unit who had promptly alerted colleagues at the Qawra police station.

Soon after, officers turned up at the Mellieħa apartment where Marcelino’s lifeless body was found lying in a pool of blood.

The case continues next month.

Inspectors Wayne Camilleri and Shaun Pawney led the prosecution, assisted by AG lawyer George Camilleri.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Francesca Zarb, Ryan Ellul and Tiziana Micallef are defence counsel.