Three psychiatrists assessing a man accused of murdering and raping a student found that he harboured anger towards women and wanted to have sex with a dead body.
The psychiatrists found that when they last assessed Abner Aquilina, on March 15, they found he had no delusions, and so was deemed fit to face proceedings.
Their conclusion differs from that reached by a different group of psychiatrists who testified in June, finding him insane at the time of the murder and that he was still psychotic during their assessment in May.
In a previous sitting, the court heard that Aquilina was filmed confessing to police that he murdered, then raped student Paulina Dembska on January 2 and that Satan was telling him to "kill more people".
Aquilina denies all charges against him.
Psychiatrists Joseph Cassar, Christian Sant and Carmen Sammut were tasked with documenting the mental state of the accused, and whether he can appear in court and understand proceedings.
Stefano Filletti, a lawyer for the victim's family, read extracts of their report to the court.
After assessing him last, on March 15, the psychiatrists found that he appeared to have no delusions.
The magistrate pointed out the difference between insanity in medical terms and legal insanity. In this case, the psychiatrists were to assess if Abner was fit to stand trial, not whether he was insane at the time of the murder.
It found that he has an anti-social personality, and is angry towards the world and women. He not only wanted to have sex with a woman but to do so with a dead body, the report said after the psychiatrists interviewed Aquilina.
The amount of detail he could supply about the incident showed that Aquilina remembered a lot and his tactic now could be to avoid answering questions.
He had enough mental capacity to engage a lawyer to assist him, knowing that he needed one.
Mario Mifsud, defence lawyer for the accused questioned the report, revealing that Aquilina had attacked a senior psychiatrist on Thursday, yet was in court on Friday.
These psychiatrists were tasked to make an assessment by the magistrate conducting the initial magisterial inquiry, while the previous group's report was requested by the magistrate conducting the criminal inquiry.
The court on Friday also heard from a St Julian's resident who described seeing what he thought was a person doing press-ups in Sliema's Independence Gardens on January 2.
“Ara this guy! How energetic he is this morning," Patrick Borg remembered thinking before spotting a second person's legs. He saw the scene for a split second and heard nothing because he was listening to the rosary on the radio.
When he arrived home, he heard about the murder and contacted the police to describe what he had seen.
An IT expert also testified, describing CCTV footage and mobile phone data that traced the activities of the accused and the victim in the early hours before the murder.
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LIVE BLOG
Court adjourned
12.04pm There are no more witnesses today. The magistrate adjourns the case until October 7. Thanks for joining us. We'll have a short summary of today's proceedings above in a few minutes.
Report to police
12.04pm Police constable Kurt Mifsud also tells the court how he took a call at 6.20am on January 2, reporting a woman being found "most likely dead" in the gardens opposite the Boris Archidiacono outlet.
French diplomat alerted police
12pm Sally Ann Felice, a police officer stationed at Sliema, describes attending the scene of the murder and speaking to a French diplomat who was the first to spot the victim and alert the police.
Mobile phone data
11.58am Marie Claire Tabone, a representative of telecommunications company Melita, is testifying now. She says the mobile phone operator got a request from the police to supply data from a phone registered in the name of a relative of Aquilina. The company supplied call logs, data logs and localization data of the phone from November 2021 to January 2022.
Witness thought the man was 'doing press-ups'
11.49am A St Julian's resident, Patrick Borg, is the next witness. He tells the court that he goes out for daily walks in the area where the body was found.
He says at around 5am on January 2 he was heading from Sliema to St Julian’s. At one point he spotted a person wearing a maroon top and doing press-ups. He thought to himself, “Ara this guy! How energetic he is this morning!” The maroon-coloured top made the witness think the man was a West Ham supporter. Then as he went past he looked back and saw another leg, raised and at a right angle.
He only saw the scene for a split second, he tells the court.
"At the time I was saying the rosary on the radio, which started at 5am," he tells the court.
Four volumes of photos
11.37am One of the forensic experts says they have four volumes of photos documenting different places and stages of their investigations. The defence asks for a copy.
Forensic officers testify
11.26am We're back with two forensic officers. They describe assessing the victim's half-naked body, covered with a white sheet and located on the ramp leading down to Independence gardens. There was bruising on the face, and injuries to the chest and genital area. Hair was on the railing and there was "reddish liquid" there too. They also assessed Aquilina's Kymco bike and the victim's belongings at the hostel where she was staying.
Break
11.23am There's a five-minute break. We'll be back soon.
Mobile data corroborated footage
11.18am Mobile data from both phones also showed the victim and the accused's movements. This data corroborated the footage detailed by the IT expert. A Melita SIM card from Aquilina proved "of utmost importance" to the investigations and is still being analysed, the expert tells the court before presenting his report to court.
'Presidential pardon'
11.08am The IT expert continues describing the footage. He is now talking about police bodycams. Abner was shown seated on a bench opposite the church as police surround him, and then take him to the polyclinic. He is given a bottle of water,which he slams on floor. He then puts his face close to the bodycam and insists on a “presidential pardon signed by the prime minister".
Movements caught on camera
11.01am Abner Aquilina's movements were also captured on CCTV. He drove a scooter from Zejtun to the St Julian's seafront, near the LOVE monument, and onwards to the Marriott Hotel. He went into the garage behind the hotel and parked his scooter there.
He walked through the hotel and tried to open the reception door leading to Balluta Bay but it was closed. Eventually, he got out through a side door and crossed the street at 4-4.30am.
He crossed to the front and walked towards Balluta church. At the same time, Paulina Dembska crossed the same street and parted ways with her friend and walked towards Fortizza.
There were young people walking along the front and looking back as though intimidated by Aquilina who was following them.
All this was caught on CCTV footage. At one point the expert lost visibility. Aquilina was seen again heading back to Balluta where he was arrested.
Footage from 23 CCTV cameras
11.01am IT expert Keith Cutajar describes going on site to collect and analyse CCTV data. There were some 23 cameras and it took over a week to gather all the footage from the Sliema and St Julian’s areas. He also analysed the bodycam footage from six officers present at Aquilina's arrest. There was also laptop footage showing the victim talking to a man inside the hostel before her murder. The expert was able to track her movements using CCTV footage.
Footage of arrest
10.48am Police Superintendent Gary Scerri from the homicide squad is up next. He was tasked to take Aquilina under custody and Scerri instructed his officers to keep their body cams switched on all the time. His hands were placed in paper envelopes so that nail scrapings could be taken later for DNA purposes. There's footage of the entire procedure.
No sign of life
10.44am Stephanie Palmier appears next. She is a doctor who was on duty at the Floriana polyclinic on the night of the murder. A call came through about the body found at the Sliema gardens. The doctor went on site and was told that the woman was dead. The corpse was part naked and there was no sign of life, she tells the court.
Aquilina attacked psychiatrist
10.40am The defence lawyer reveals that yesterday Aquilina attacked a senior psychiatrist.
Defence objects
10.36am Mario Mifsud, the defence lawyer representing Aquilina, questions why the psychiatrists had to refer to the specific case in order to assess his state of mind. One of the psychiatrists, Joseph Cassar, says this was necessary and says Aquilina's lawyer was present during the assessment.
'Wanted to have sex with a dead body'
10.32am The experts' observations continue. The amount of detail about the murder showed that Aquilina remembered a lot about that incident and his tactic could be to avoid answering questions. He not only wanted to have sex with the woman but to do so with a dead body. They also said that he aroused himself to have sex with the victim and told experts that he knew she was dead at the time.
He had enough mental capacity to engage a lawyer to assist him, knowing that he needed one.
The magistrate points out that insanity in medical terms is different from legal insanity. In this case, the psychiatrists were to assess if Abner was fit to stand trial, not whether he was insane at the time of the murder.
'Angry towards women'
10.27am Stefano Filletti, lawyer for the victim's family, goes through the report. The final conclusion, in March, was that he appeared to have no delusions. He has an anti-social personality, is angry towards the world and women, Filletti reads from the report.
Psychiatrists testify
10.21am Three psychiatrists, Joseph Cassar, Christian Sant and Carmen Sammut testify. They were asked to document the mental state of the accused, if he can appear in court and whether he understands court proceedings.
Abner Aquilina in court
10.17am The accused is in court this morning. He has changed his appearance: longer brown curly hair, and sporting a goatee. Inspector Wayne Camilleri is prosecuting him, along with Attorney General lawyers Anthony Vella and Darlene Grima. Stefano Filletti is representing Paulina Dembska's family.