A man who stands accused of attempting to murder his ex-partner’s daughters told investigators that he loved the girls “like his own children” and he remembered nothing of the assault.

He was also unable to explain two Facebook photos he posted hours before the knife attack, one of them captioned with the word “vendetta.”

Nazzareno Dalli, 43, is charged with attempted murder of the girls, aged 12 and 15 years old, in their home in Triq San Tumas in Marsa on March 9.

The younger one was stabbed in the heart and lost up to 40 per cent of her blood, but is now recovering. The other was slightly injured. Dalli is pleading not guilty.

Inspector Wayne Camilleri testified in the compilation of evidence about the two photos posted by the accused hours before the assault.

The caption under one of them read: “Bonġu minn Zaren….lili ma jċekkinni ħadd…mhux se ċċekkinni int…Min jidħaq l-aħħar, jidħaq l-aħjar,” [Good morning from Zaren….No one will humiliate me….You won’t be the one to do so….He who laughs last, laughs best]. The picture showed Dalli, shirt unbuttoned, revealing a knife tucked at the waist.

The vendetta-captioned picture showed Dalli standing against a darkish background at a nightclub, wearing a buttoned-up shirt that was possibly the same one worn at the time of the assault. 

When confronted by those photos, Dalli told the police that he could not recall who had taken them. Nor could he explain the presence of that knife.

A blood-smeared hunting knife, wrapped in a cloth, was found just behind the front door of the Marsa residence by scene of crime officers. Dalli had no recollection of that knife, even when it was unwrapped and shown to him during interrogation.

Teen sister tried to stop 'scary' knife attack

The inspector also described the scene in the house after the assault saying the 12-year-old girl was in imminent danger of dying. Her 15-year-old sister was also injured.

Doctors had told the police that the 12-year-old had suffered some 17 blows which damaged her vital organs and resulted in heavy bleeding. She was rushed, unconscious, to emergency surgery.

Meanwhile her sister spoke to the inquiring magistrate and inspector, recounting how she was jolted out of her sleep at around 1pm by the screams of her younger sibling.

She rushed to see what was happening and was met with a “scary scene.”

She said her mother’s ex-partner, “Ronald tal-Muga,” (a family nickname) was stabbing her sister with a knife and there was a lot of blood all over the place.

Although still drowsy, her immediate reaction was to try to stop the assault.

But the aggressor turned upon her too, hitting her with the knife on her hand. Luckily she managed to get away, hiding in a room on the roof.  

When the police arrived, there was blood splattered all over the place, mostly in the living room, with more traces on the stairs leading up to the roof and beyond, the inspector said. 

The accused was in and out of the house in three minutes

He said the accused had walked into his ex’s home and out again in three minutes.

Footage from various CCTV cameras along the street outside the residence where the alleged assault took place showed him walking up to the front door at 1:06pm-camera time not real time- testified the inspector.

The suspect arrived from the direction of the Marsa bridge, drawing out a bunch of keys. Acting normally, he tried different keys and was successful on the third attempt, stepping inside and shutting the gate behind him.

The Marsa house where the girls were stabbed on March 9. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli.

Soon, his ex’s 14-year old son rushed outside. He later described the aggression, saying that it was Dalli who stabbed his sisters.

Dalli himself left the residence three minutes later, running in the direction of the Marsa bridge.

He later turned himself in at Cospicua police station, asking whether police were searching for him.

He was read out his rights and arrested. The process was filmed on police bodycams.

The suspect’s jeans and t-shirt - apparently the same ones worn during the crime - were handed to the DNA expert. The shirt he wore in the two photos posted on Facebook, was never retrieved, explained the investigator.

The accused told police that he loved his ex’s kids 'like his own'

The inspector said Dalli spoke at length under interrogation about his relationship with the girls’ mother, referring to her as “his ex.”

They had been together for three years and he “loved her a lot.” According to him “he would do anything for her……He could not understand why she did what she did, leading to break up. He never gave a specific reason for their breakup,” the inspector said.

The accused said he had moved in with the girls’ mother for some time and regarded her children “as his own.”

He claimed to have helped her as best as he could, even paying for her car insurance policy.

But when shown the photos he had posted on Facebook hours before the incident, he could not recall who had taken them, although he identified the background as the Red Stars bar at Zejtun.

Nor could he explain the presence of the knife visible in one of the photos.

That night he was working as an unlicensed security guard at the Osiris nightclub, heading to the Red Stars in Żejtun when he clocked off around 5am.

That was where he allegedly paid for some drugs which he took with a drink. He had also previously consumed cocaine.

'Total blackout'

“He didn’t know what it was. He didn’t even remember who he bought it from, simply saying that it was a man from Serbia,” the inspector said.

“After that it was total blackout. He insisted he could not remember anything. He went to the police station when he heard that the police were looking for him. He recalled nothing about the attack, not even that he was in Marsa,” testified Camilleri.

Dalli himself requested police gather CCTV footage from the nightclub and Żejtun bar. He also offered to give a urine sample to support his intoxication claims.

Shown footage from the crime scene, Dalli identified himself and recognised the street where his ex lived.

“But he didn’t know how he had the key to the place. He never had the key when he lived there. He just could not explain how the key ended up in his possession,” the inspector said. 

Accused’s ex had filed two domestic violence reports

The inspector also pointed out that Dalli had been charged under arrest after his ex partner filed a domestic violence report in which she was slightly injured.  He was cleared after the alleged victim chose not to testify against him.

In January, the woman filed another report claiming that this time round she was suffering psychological abuse.

Her claims were assessed by Appoġġ who classified the case as “standard” and “no risk.”

The police nonetheless prosecuted Dalli under summons.

The case, presided over by Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia, continues.

AG lawyers Etienne Savona and Manuel Grech prosecuted together with Inspectors Wayne Camilleri and Ian Vella.

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi, Franco Debono, Mario Mifsud, Nicholas Mifsud and Jacob Magri are defence counsel.

Lawyer Roberta Spiteri appeared parte civile.