A man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend had threatened to kill her in the past, the victim’s mother told a court on Monday. 

Miriam Chetcuti recalled how Justin Borg had told her that he would kill her daughter Chantelle, telling her “do as I tell you or you won’t see your daughter again”. 

“He would say ‘I will kill her, because if she’s not mine she won’t be anyone’s,” she said. 

“He is a monster,” the victim’s mother told the court. 

Borg stands accused of murdering Chantelle Chetcuti, with whom he had two children, in February of this year. 

Chetcuti was stabbed to death outside a bar in Żabbar where she was playing a game of pool with a friend. Eyewitnesses from that night have testified that Borg entered the club, demanded to speak to Chetcuti and then walked outside with her. 

Another witness told the court that he saw a man swing his arm twice at Chetcuti, who fell with a knife lodged in her head, face down. 

Borg, who is pleading not guilty to charges, turned himself in to police, telling them “I have just stabbed my girlfriend,” a constable has testified. 

Childhood friends

On Monday, Chetcuti’s mother recounted how she had known Borg since he was a child who played with Chantelle and her brother Kersten. 

Borg had always been attracted to Chantelle, her mother told the court. But their relationship was a violent one, she added. 

She claimed that Borg would beat her daughter, even kicking her when she was pregnant, and recalled how her daughter had once spent three days wearing a scarf around her neck after he allegedly grabbed her violently by the throat. 

Borg had once taken her daughter to a health centre for treatment after punching her in the face, Miriam Chetcuti said, as she presented photos of her daughter’s injuries to the court. 

The victim’s brother Kersten also testified on Monday, telling the court how Borg had refused to accept that his relationship with Chetcuti had come to an end and saying that his sister had initially only dated Borg because he kept pestering her. 

“He would throw stones at her window, bring her gifts and cry. She eventually dated him,” he said. 

Kersten Chetcuti said that in the months preceding her murder, he had wanted Borg and his sister to reconcile and live together with their children as a family. 

Chantelle Chetcuti had shot that suggestion down, telling him “I’ve ended up in hospital because of him”. 

On the day Chetcuti was murdered, Borg had called him. 

“He told me ‘do you know who she’s added on Facebook?’” Kersten Chetcuti recalled. 

“I told him ‘Justin, let it go, I’m not interested’,” he added. 

A witness who was due to testify on Monday did not show up and was held in contempt of court. 

Borg’s defence team, led by lawyer Franco Debono, requested bail for the client. 

That request was denied by the court, which noted that other civilian witnesses had yet to testify. Nevertheless, the court noted that prosecutors had no reason to delay in summoning remaining witnesses and urged them to do so promptly. 

Magistrate Rachel Montebello presided over the case. Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Francesca Zahra were counsel for the defence. Lawyer Lara Dimitrijevic appeared on behalf of the victim's family.

The case continues on September 11.