Roderick Cassar, the husband of murder victim Bernice had told his young son that he would be in prison 'before Wednesday' just days before she was shot dead, a court heard on Wednesday.

Roderick Cassar stands accused of shooting dead his wife in Corradino on November 22 last year.  He is the first person ever to be charged with wilful femicide, an aggravated version of the homicide offence. He is pleading not guilty.

Alessia Cilia, the victim's sister, testified in the compilation of evidence about an incident in which the accused allegedly threatened his estranged wife Bernice and her family and addressed his son, telling him he would soon end up in prison. 

The incident, Cilia said, happened on November 13, 2022, when Bernice had taken her children to Floriana to get vaccinated, nine days before she was shot dead. 

“Somehow he had found out where she was going and he followed her there. She called me right after it happened, crying very hard and panting like she was out of breath,” Cilia said. 

“She told me that he had opened the car door, stuck his head in, urged her to go back home and threatened her. He told her ‘Everyone from Żebbuġ to Santa Luċija is going to pay for this’ and then he turned to his son and said ‘By next Wednesday I will be in prison’.” 

Cilia explained that this first threat was aimed at Bernice’s family, the majority of whom live in Żebbuġ as well as to their maternal aunt who lives in Santa Luċija and sometimes kept Bernice’s children for her. 

Cilia recounted several conversations she had with her sister over the phone, in the lead-up to Bernice leaving the matrimonial home and while she was living with their parents.

Bernice felt she had 'lost control of her life'

Her sister, she said, felt as though “she had lost control of her life” because of the abuse, physical violence and threats she suffered at the hands of her husband and was increasingly depressed, frustrated and fearful of her situation, expressing on several occasions that she feared Cassar would do something to seriously harm her or their children. 

Cilia said that Bernice had told her of one such incident on January 1, 2022, where Cassar allegedly went home and an argument ensued between them. During this argument, Cilia said her sister had told her that Cassar had gone to fetch a metal silicone gun and began to slam it repeatedly on the table “screaming that he would kill her with it”. 

The accused Roderick Cassar.

Cilia said that the day before another incident on Mother’s Day, which the victim’s father testified about on March 16, Bernice was supposed to babysit her daughter so that she could attend a wedding with her husband. However, after her sister failed to call her, Cilia called her out of worry and her sister tearfully told her that “Roderick had done it again”. 

Some days later, Bernice called and told her that Cassar had threatened her and held a knife to her neck and that after he had gone to sleep, she had barricaded herself with her children in their bedroom.

“She told me she was so frightened that she did not dare leave the room while he was there. Eventually, she told me that she had snuck out to get a bucket to meet her needs instead of going to the bathroom,” Cilia said. 

This was the incident that had spurned Bernice to leave for her parents’ house. While she previously wanted to stay in the marriage to keep her family together, she realized that these incidents were having a negative psychological impact on her children. 

Conversation two days before the murder

Cilia also recalled a conversation she had with her sister two nights before she was murdered, which was triggered by a threatening Facebook post made by Cassar that spoke of revenge. 

Cilia’s husband was the first person to see the post, after which Cilia tried calling Bernice unsuccessfully, then called her mother who put Bernice on the line as she was tending to her children. Bernice, she said, was alarmed by the post and had immediately called Cassar and put him on speakerphone while Cilia was on the other line listening in. 

“I will never forget his voice that night. Bernice told him to remove the post and he said ‘What, what’s wrong with it?’ and they argued back and forth about it,” Cilia said. 

“Then in a very cold but assertive voice, he told her ‘All of you will pay’.”

The whole family was afraid for her. That day she didn’t know she was saying goodbye to her children for the last time and that her drive to work would end up in a pool of blood. I didn't know I was saying goodbye to my sister that night- Victim's sister

This, Cilia said, led to Bernice calling the police inspector she was in contact with and informing her about Cassar’s breach of a protection order in her favour.

Bernice told her that Cassar had already missed two appointments with the police and that the inspector had told her they were considering alternatives. This, Cilia said, scared Bernice because she felt that the protection order had granted her a false sense of security. 

“She thought they would arrest him and she told us that she was terrified because she felt that he had lost all control,” she said. 

Speaking through her tears, Cilia said that the night before she was killed she had again spent 45 minutes on the phone with her sister. 

“The whole family was afraid for her. That day she didn’t know she was saying goodbye to her children for the last time and that her drive to work would end up in a pool of blood. I didn't know I was saying goodbye to my sister that night,” she said. 

“She could have filed a police report about him breaking the protection order every day because every day he tried something. She felt it was working against her like a ticking time bomb because it would either scare him off or he would feel that he had nothing left to lose and go overboard.” 

Bernice was pestered by husband at work

Earlier in the sitting, the court also heard from Bernice’s direct supervisor at work, who testified that Cassar would pester her so persistently that measures had to be taken to prevent Bernice from answering office landlines and that she had to block Cassar’s number from her mobile phone during work hours. 

Moira Grech also recounted an incident in which she had to call the police to the premises because Cassar had shown up with their children and started banging on the window of Bernice’s office. 

“The children were with him and I could see them crying, he was hitting the window and begging her to come back home,” she said. 

“He tried calling me to speak to me as well, but I refused as I have nothing to do with their personal lives. She was in tears the entire time and she was completely humiliated and kept saying ‘x’mistħija x’mistħija’. At that point, I felt I had to call the police, but unfortunately, they did not arrive in time as he has already left.”

The case will continue on June 21.

Attorney General lawyers Angele Vella and Darlene Grima assisted Inspectors Wayne Camilleri, Shaun Pawney and Paul Camilleri.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Arthur Azzopardi, Marion Camilleri and Jacob Magri were defence counsel.

Lawyers Stefano Filletti, Marita Pace Dimech, Ann Marie Cutajar and Rodianne Sciberras appeared parte civile.

Magistrate Joe Mifsud is hearing the case.