The man allegedly behind the Għargħur double murder had told the police that it would have been better had he turned the knife, used to stab his mother and aunt, upon himself.
Kevin Micallef, 42, is currently undergoing proceedings over the wilful murder of both his elderly relatives and with breaching the peace in the incident which took place in the early hours of July 25.
As the compilation kicked off on Wednesday, an emergency medical consultant described the unsuccessful struggle to save the life of Antonia Micallef, the accused’s mother, who had been found lying face up in the washroom where the aggression took place.
Jonathan Joslin took the witness stand recalling how on that fateful Monday morning, shortly after 6am, he had been called out by an ambulance to assist in the incident, accompanied by a doctor and two nurses.
The scene that met their eyes, upon being directed to the washroom, was one bathed in blood. Two elderly women lay on the floor, partly on top of each other.
One of them, Maria Carmela Fenech, was dead. The other victim, lying partly over the first victim, had multiple stab wounds on the neck and was bleeding heavily. Her breathing was shallow, she was pallid and sweating profusely. Her lungs were punctured, the left one had collapsed.
“We applied compression to the wounds. She was in shock. We inserted an IV line,” Dr Joslin explained, describing the race against time as the victim was rushed to hospital.
During the ride in the ambulance, oxygen was administered since the woman’s blood pressure was very low. As she momentarily regained consciousness, she managed to sum up enough energy to utter the name “Kevin” when asked who had done that to her. She died within the hour.
Prosecuting Inspector Kurt Zahra testified as to how, during questioning, the accused had told the police that his relationship with the two victims had not been good, claiming that they would interfere in his relationships.
He alleged that some days before the incident the two had been putting substances in his coffee to make him tired. Overhearing their conversation, during which one of the women had asked “do you think he noticed?” the man believed that this was confirmation of his suspicions.
“Kevin said that he had stabbed his aunt first. He turned and found his mother crying and stabbed her too. He said it would have been better had he turned the knife on himself,” the Inspector continued as the accused sat in the dock expressing no emotion.
Other police officers testified as to how Mr Micallef had personally called the police to report that he had murdered two persons and had later opened the door to let in the police still wearing bloodstained clothes and with blood-covered hands.
Following his arrest, the suspect had been photographed at the Naxxar police station before being taken to Mount Carmel Hospital where he was held under observation even after being pronounced fit for interrogation.
Inspector Elton Taliana also informed the court that the man's coffee had been taken for testing by an expert.
Asked by the defence, the inspector said that the accused’s mother had prescription antidepressants. The accused had told the police that he had no history of any illness.
The case continues on August 13.
Magistrate Monica Vella is presiding over the compilation. Inspectors Kurt Zahra and Elton Taliana are prosecuting. Lawyer Francois Dalli is defence counsel.