The blood-stained clothing of entertainment mogul Hugo Chetcuti has been shown to the jury in the trial of a man charged with murdering him.

Sobs from the gallery interrupted the second day of the trial of a 39-year-old Serbian man as a photograph of the torn garment was displayed.

Bojan Cmelik denies murdering the 52-year-old businessman outside one of his Paceville establishments on July 6, 2018.

Two forensic experts gave evidence on Wednesday of examining the clothing of both men at the crime scene. 

They identified two slits on the left front side of the long sleeved garment that Chetcuti had been wearing when he was seated outside his newly launched seafood bar on St Rita Steps, Paceville.

That is when Cmelik is alleged to have approached, called him by name, and stabbed him.

Chetcuti was rushed to Mater Dei Hospital in a critical condition having lost a lot of blood. His condition stabilised after undergoing surgery, but he died of complications a few days later.

'Catch him, catch him'

Each of the items of clothing was drawn out of evidence bags and shown to jurers. 

A black leather holster as well as the alleged murder weapon, a knife with a 16-centimetre blade, was also exhibited.

Another police witness described the scene at the Mater Dei emergency department on the night of the murder. 

While the victim was rushed to emergency surgery, an officer had a private chat with Isaac Chetcuti, who described his brother's reaction to the stabbing.

"Catch him, catch him," the victim cried out to his brother, as the alleged aggressor "flew" up the steps from the spot where, seconds before, he had approached the businessman.

Chetcuti had welcomed the man with open arms but the businessman's  brother saw Cmelik's hands move swiftly, before he fled.

Accused appearance 'greatly changed'

Earlier former constable, Karl Dimech, one of a line of officers summoned to the witness stand when proceedings resumed against Cmelik, said the accused's appearance had changed in the past three years.

“I can identify his face but I must say that he is greatly changed,” remarked the witness as he turned to look at the dark-suited man with a shaved head seated at the dock. 

It had taken three Rapid Intervention Unit officers armed with tasers to overcome the tall, well-built Cmelik, who they spotted on the night of the stabbing in a side-street just off Rudolph Street, Sliema.

Police had been chasing after Cmelik, but lost sight of him as they chased along the St Julian’s beach. 

Three years down the line, Cmelik, 39, has lost weight “but his facial features were still recognisable,” the former policeman testified.

Chasing down the suspect

Working on a description given by the victim’s brother at the crime scene, officers were searching for a tall, fair-complexioned suspect wearing a dark shirt, light brown shorts and a straw hat. 

The person officers spotted on the Sliema side street matched that description “exactly”, several officers testified on Wednesday as a 12-person jury made up of six men and six women listened on.

Dimech recalled how earlier that evening he had spotted the suspect on the beach, crouching next to a group of “EF students” all wearing pink t-shirts.

He had sensed there was something “abnormal” about the man crouching there, and as soon as he pointed at him, the man had run off along the beach.

Cmelik was arrested later by an RIU patrol squad.

Cmelik was tasered but almost got away

Officers involved in the arrest also testified on Wednesday.

They told the court that they had driven around the block to face the suspect from the front, and noticed that his blue shirt and face were wet with sweat, suggesting he had been exerting himself physically.

Officers ordered him to stop and repeated that order in English, but the tall man had continued forward and reached into his half-open shirt, as though about to draw out something. 

When he was about two metres away, the officers tasered him.

“We had no knowledge of the knife at that point but we tasered him in self-protection,” one witness explained, recalling how the man almost managed to get away when one of the taser probes fell off.

Cmelik got back to his feet and almost slipped away.

He was finally overcome after being “touched” on the leg with the taser gun and was wrestled to the ground as he punched, kicked and struck out with his elbows at the officers.  

A strapped holster with a knife

Once handcuffed, the man was searched.

On his left side, police found a holster strapped to his waist, a black-handled knife jutting out. 

That knife and pouch were identified by the police witnesses and were shown to the jurors at close range. 

Following that struggle, Cmelik was escorted to the Floriana health centre.

A doctor on duty in the early hours of September 7, testified that the accused had two small cuts on his ear and also complained about some irritant sprayed in his eyes.

In fact, his eyes were swollen and visibly irritated calling for a washout with saline solution, explained doctor Robert Patinoitt. 

Asked by a juror whether pepper spray might have been the cause, the doctor explained that he could not determine the cause. 

The three RIU officers involved in Cmelik’s arrest were also certified as suffering slight injuries.

One had suffered a blow on the nose, another had scratches and a bruise under the ribs while the third officer had a superficial graze on the inner side of his elbow. None of those injuries were classified as grievous, the court was told. 

No fingerprints on pouch

A fingerprint expert from the police forensic lab brought the morning’s session to a close. He was tasked with testing the black leather knife pouch for fingerprints.

After a detailed rundown of the chemical analysis involved, the officer said that no marks were developed on the pouch and metal clips attached to the strap. 

Asked by a juror whether this was a normal occurrence, the expert said that various factors at play might not help in this regard.

Leather was a tricky material and a very difficult one when it came to developing fingerprints, the expert replied. 

Lawyer Simon Micallef Stafrace is legal aid defence counsel. AG Lawyers Kevin Valletta and Maria Francesca Spiteri are prosecuting. Lawyers Joe Giglio and Mario Spiteri are appearing parte civile for the Chetcuti family.