A 47-year-old man was yesterday jailed for life after jurors found him guilty, by eight votes to one, of the murder of a young woman and her 17-month-old daughter in a crime which the prosecution described as "vile and macabre".
Alfred Azzopardi, 47, of Zejtun, remained outwardly composed when Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono read out the judgment in the first case in Malta involving the cold-blooded murder of a mother and child.
On handing down sentence, Mr Justice Galea Debono ruled that the verdict clearly showed that jurors had not accepted Mr Azzopardi's defence, that is, that he did not intend to kill 22-year-old Vanessa Grech and her daughter Ailey in a rented Birzebbuga house on November 12, 2001.
After two-and-a-half hours of deliberation the nine jurors found Mr Azzopardi guilty of the two counts of murder with an 8-1 vote.
They unanimously found him guilty of hiding the bodies when he threw them into a well at the Birzebbuga house and of the possession of a penknife at the time of the commission of the crime.
After the guilty verdict was read out Mr Justice Galea Debono moved to hear submissions on punishment.
Lawyer Malcolm Mifsud, for Mr Azzopardi, noted that the verdict for the two counts of murder was not unanimous and that his client was a first-time offender.
He also noted that during the past four years spent in prison, his client's behaviour had been exemplary.
Senior Counsel to the Republic Mark Said said he was not contesting that Mr Azzopardi had behaved well in jail.
"However, there remains the fact that here we have a guilty verdict for two wilful homicides which are vile and macabre. In these circumstances, and in light of the way the murders were carried out, with particular emphasis on the murder of the young Ailey, I call on the court to hand down life imprisonment," he said.
After taking note of the verdict, the circumstances and the submissions the judge jailed Mr Azzopardi for life.
The judge ruled that the juror's decision showed that they believed the thesis as laid out by the prosecution.
In the bill of indictment the prosecution explained that, at the time of the incident, Mr Azzopardi worked as an auxiliary worker at the Armed Forces of Malta and as a cleaner at the Air Squadron.
He was married with three children and had been separated for three years.
In July, 2001 he rented out the place in Birzebbuga but, the bill read, he did not rent it to live in but as a place where he could sleep with women.
Mr Azzopardi had known Ms Grech for about a year and a half. She had a drug addiction problem and, whenever she needed money to buy drugs, Mr Azzopardi provided her with the money in exchange for sex.
On November 12, 2001, Mr Azzopardi was in his rented place and he called Ms Grech. She accepted to visit him and took her daughter whom she left in the sitting room.
The two had sex in the bedroom. An argument then broke out when Ms Grech allegedly asked Mr Azzopardi for Lm1,000 to buy drugs and he refused to pay her. At that point Ms Grech threatened to tell his wife about their affair and they reached for her handbag which was next to the bed and got out a penknife, the bill read.
Mr Azzopardi managed to take the knife, injuring his hand, and with the intent to kill Ms Grech, stabbed her several times in the chest and other vital parts of her body. Ms Grech, who was still naked and covered in blood lost consciousness and died soon after.
On hearing her mother scream, the little girl entered the bedroom. When Mr Azzopardi saw the girl, he grabbed her from her back, threw her on the bed next to her dead mother and stabbed her.
Before leaving the house Mr Azzopardi decided to get rid of the two bodies so he threw them, headfirst, into the well. He also threw the penknife, Ms Grech's handbag and blood-stained sheets and towels. He then washed his hands, cleaned the place, dressed up and left.
Life in prison
In the eyes of the law, life imprisonment means that Mr Azzopardi will be spending the rest of his living days behind bars.
However, there is a way out before death, and this is laid down in articles 493 and 494 of the Criminal Code.
The first mentioned article lays down that: "After sentencing any person to imprisonment for life, the court may recommend in writing to the Prime Minister within 24 hours the minimum period which in its view should elapse before the prisoner is released from prison. Such recommendation shall be made available to the person sentenced, and a copy thereof shall be kept by the registrar."
The following article reads: "It shall be lawful for any judge, who sat in a trial, to recommend to the President of Malta, for pardon or mitigation of punishment any person sentenced by making for this purpose a report in writing stating the reason for such recommendation."
Unique crime
Police and crime historian Eddie Attard provided the following facts:
This was a unique case in that it involved the cold-blooded murder of a mother and her baby daughter.
It was not, however, the first time that jurors found an accused guilty of causing the death of mother and child.
Three years ago two men - Silvio Pace and John Polidano - were found guilty of causing an explosion in Paola which led to the death of Yvette Bonnici, 24, and her son Sean, 19 months, on March 17, 1992.
Mr Azzopardi's life imprisonment brings the number of people currently serving life imprisonment to nine. The other eight are:
¤ Andy Calleja who admitted to the murder of PC Roger Debattista when he shot him during a hold-up at the Bank of Valletta branch in Qormi on November 12, 2001.
¤ Libyan Ibrahim Ramandan Ghamber Shnishah was jailed for life for complicity in a robbery that resulted in the murder of hairstylist Alfie Rizzo in his Gzira hair salon on February 4, 1998.
¤ Joseph Harrington had been jailed for life for the murder of Sylvia King who was burnt alive in a car at Il-Kuncizzjoni, limits of Rabat, on April 3, 1993.
¤ Albert Ellul had been jailed for life for the triple murder of Twanny Baldacchino, his sister Rose and her seven-year-old son Antoine whom he shot in Zejtun in May 1992.
¤ Two Tunisians, Mohsen Bin Brahim Mosbah and Ben Ali Wahid Ben Hassine, were jailed for life after they pleaded guilty to four murders in 1988. They pleaded guilty to killing James Reed at Ta' Xbiex on a yacht on February 12, 1988 and Alfred Cucciardi, a taxi driver on the same night. Then, six days later, they took the lives of taxi driver Alfred Darmanin and of Frenchman Michel Levarlet.
This was the third double murder that occurred this century. The other two were:
¤ Dominic Bonnici had been jailed for 30 years after filing a guilty plea to the murder of Gerald and Josephine Grima, an elderly couple of Sta Lucija, on February 10, 2000.
¤ Paul Bonnici was jailed for 31 years when he admitted to fatally shooting his neighbours Joseph Dalli and his wife Carmela outside their home in Santa Maria Street, Ghaxaq, on May 13, 2000.