A woman who claimed to have known murder suspect Elliot Paul Busuttil “for years,” but could give no details about his personal life was a whisker away from being declared a hostile witness and in contempt of court on Monday.

The woman, a foreigner whose name was banned by court order, was summoned as a prosecution witness when the compilation of evidence continued on Monday against the 38-year old Attard man, who is pleading not guilty to murdering Mario Farrugia.

The lifeless body of the 62-year old Pembroke resident, reported missing in April, was found days later inside the luggage boot of a Peugeot 407 car which he had acquired to operate a small taxi service so as to supplement his pension.

Police officers who were alerted to the vehicle parked at Qormi valley, had told the court at previous sittings about the “strange smell…like some dead animal,” and the buzzing flies that struck them as they circled the car.

The badly decomposed corpse of the missing man had multiple stab wounds.

The victim’s brother also testified at a previous sitting, explaining how shortly before his disappearance, Mario had voiced concern about two clients who would not pay him the agreed amount for his taxi services. He was trying to offload them, telling his brother that he believed that the pair “were involved in drugs.”

When the case resumed on Monday, a woman who has been living “on and off” in Malta since 2015, took the witness stand, assisted by a Romanian-speaking interpreter.

She said she could not “exactly remember” how she had got to know the accused, but confirmed that she had known Busuttil for quite “long”, “for years” in fact, precisely since 2018.

Asked by Magistrate Astrid May Grima whether there was any romantic relationship between the two, the woman said that they were “more like acquaintances.”

They met occasionally, sometimes not meeting up for years and then meeting several times in one month, sometimes at his home or else “in the city.”

The last time she met Elliot was on March 28 when she visited his home at Attard.

She said she had just returned from Romania and got to know that Elliot’s brother had been hospitalized and therefore she went to the brothers’ family home to check out on Glen, Elliot’s sibling.

The accused’s parents, brothers and daughters lived at the residence, explained the witness, occasionally lapsing into English and thus bypassing the interpreter.

“The witness appears to understand English,” remarked defence lawyer Ishmael Psaila.

The court, however, pointed out that the witness had flagged language difficulties and had thus necessitated the presence of the interpreter. The magistrate then directed the witness to stick to her native language to avoid confusion and ensure correct transcript of her testimony.

Accused acted 'like a normal person'

Asked whether she had noticed anything particular about the accused when they last met, the woman replied that he was “like a normal person.”

Could she shed light on any personal conditions or addictions relative to the accused, asked the court.

“I was not his girlfriend so I do not know many details about his personal life,” replied the witness, prompting the court to point out that she had claimed to have known Busuttil for four years and also visited his home.

“I do not accept that she doesn’t know anything. I shall find you guilty of contempt of court. Behave properly please,” warned the magistrate.

“I do not know anything about his personal life. Last time, I visited his brother,” insisted the witness.

“What do you know about Elliot then? His age? His tastes? Nothing? So what did you talk about?”pressed on the court.

“I didn’t visit him for many years. I don’t know the names of his friends,” the witness persisted.

Her apparently stubborn reluctance to divulge information prompted Magistrate Grima to issue one final warning.

“I will find you guilty of contempt. And the penalty will not be a pecuniary one. It will be something else,” said the Magistrate, her patience clearly running thin.

The witness’s testimony was suspended while she was escorted out of the courtroom to consult her lawyer, Alfred Abela.

Meanwhile the defence minuted that they were reserving the right to contest the nature of the questions put to the witness at a later stage.

An officer from the St Julian’s police station testified about a call from a Pembroke resident who said that she had not seen her neighbour, Mario Farrugia, for a while.

When the officers went to Pembroke they confirmed that the man had not been around for some three days and a light at his front door was switched on, night and day.

The neighbour told police that that was unusual.

Spotting an open window at the man’s garage, police managed to make their way into the residence where they roamed the place, room by room.

There was a pot of mouldy food in the kitchen and the date on a calendar was marked as “March 28,” the same date printed on some shopping receipts in Farrugia’s home.

A female officer from the Vice Squad testified about a missing person report she received on April 1.

She first called Mount Carmel Hospital to check whether they had any information about the missing man, but their reply was in the negative.

The officer also spoke to Farrugia’s neighbours who said that he had not taken out his rubbish for some days and left the outdoor light on.

She then explained how she spoke to a man whose number she traced from call profile data relative to the missing taxi driver.

The man had tried to call Farrugia on March 29 at around 2:09am, barely two minutes before Farrugia’s phone was last localized.

The man told police that he used to call Farrugia to make use of his taxi service when he wanted to go to his girlfriend’s place in Bugibba.

But that day, Farrugia had not answered his call.

Meanwhile the woman whose testimony was suspended, is expected to continue testifying when the case resumes in October.

Inspectors Kurt Zahra and Wayne Camilleri prosecuted, assisted by AG lawyers George Camilleri, Kaylie Bonnett Maria Schembri.

Lawyers Edward Gatt and Ishmael Psaila are defence counsel.

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri are appearing parte civile.