A woman accused of fatally stabbing her partner at their Mellieħa home two months ago suspected he was having an affair with a fellow tenant and once contemplated suicide “so that Marcelino can live happily”.

"Jealousy" was the recurring theme when proceedings resumed on Friday afternoon against Mayumi Santos Patacsil, 44, who stands accused of murdering Marcelino Montalban Saraza at the couple’s rented residence in Triq il-Fortizza, Mellieħa.

The Filipino couple had formerly resided at Buġibba but had been asked to move out by the landlady after she received complaints from another tenant claiming that Patacsil was alleging she was having an affair with Marcelino.

That suspicion had apparently soured relations between the fellow tenants prompting the complaint to the landlady who visited the apartment to check out the situation. 

Although reassured that her tenants would sort out the matter amicably, another message a week later indicated that the disagreement had not been resolved but had rather escalated, testified Charlene Aquilina, the landlady summoned by the prosecution on Friday. 

Determined to avoid further trouble, Aquilina had asked Patacsil and her partner to move out. 

They did so early in December.

But days later, on December 16, the former landlady received a message from Patacsil saying that she wanted to die by suicide so that “Marcelino can live happily”.

Aquilina reported the message to the police and was subsequently told off by Patacsil for having “caused her trouble with the police.”

Faced with that reaction, Aquilina had warned her former tenant not to turn to her for help in future and also blocked her number to avoid further communication.

“To me, she seemed to be a normal person, an ordinary person,” Aquilina finished off. 

Bus driver

A Malta Public Transport official testified that he had a “good” working relationship with the victim since July 2019 when Marcelino was a driver at the Ċirkewwa terminal. 

The Filipino man never had any problems with fellow drivers and dispatchers, said Daniel Raimondo, depot manager at Ċirkewwa, recalling only minor work incidents involving the victim.

Marcelino once had an accident at Mellieħa which turned out not to be his fault and another time he had faced internal disciplinary proceedings for allegedly failing to drop off passengers at the right stop. 

But he never refused extra hours and had always tested negative to random alcohol and drugs tests carried out by the transport authority, the witness said.

Woman asks about his whereabouts

Some two years ago, a woman had phoned to check about Marcelino’s whereabouts.

The manager had directed a fellow officer to tell the woman not to call since data protection rules precluded the company from divulging such information. 

The woman called a second time some half-hour later and after being told that Marcelino was “not ready yet” turned up at the Ċirkewwa depot minutes later. 

Told about the calls, Marcelino subsequently remarked, “yes, my girlfriend,” said the witness who, however, could not confirm the identity of that female caller. 

On another occasion, checking the source of a nearby ring tone, Raimondo had come across Marcelino having lunch while his phone lay by his side, ignoring the persistent ringing of his mobile.

“It’s my girlfriend,” he casually told his superior.

'Jealousy constant source of fighting'

Two Filipino friends of the couple testified that the accused’s jealousy was a constant source of fighting between Patacsil and her partner.

One of the men explained that she would call him, morning and evening, asking about Marcelino and claiming he had other women.

Those calls had stopped some two weeks before the fatal episode after the witness blocked Patacsil’s number upon the advice of Marcelino himself. 

The other witness described the accused as “a silent type” and said that he had not experienced any trouble with her when she lodged temporarily at his place while Marcelino went on a two-month vacation in his homeland. 

Upon his return, the couple moved in together into the Mellieħa apartment “but were still fighting over the jealousy,” the court, presided over by magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo, was told.

The case continues in October.

Inspector Shaun Pawney prosecuted, assisted by AG lawyers Anthony Vella and George Camilleri.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Ryan Ellul and Tiziana Micallef were defence counsel.