Murdered teen’s family want answers over pregnancy claim

The family of murdered teenager Lisa Maria Zahra do not believe her convicted killer, Erin Tanti, impregnated his partner by smuggling sperm illegally and are insisting on answers.

They are also insisting that someone shoulder responsibility for what happened. 

“Someone must know what happened and must take responsibility for this serious breach of discipline… We will not stop until we get the truth,” said Winston J. Zahra, Lisa Maria’s cousin.

He was reacting to a Times of Malta report that Tanti could have smuggled his sperm out of Corradino Correctional Facility in an attempt to impregnate his partner. The partner, who was with him even before he entered prison, is pregnant. 

Tanti is serving a 20-year sentence for the murder of 15-year-old Lisa Maria, who was his drama student. He admitted to wilful homicide as well as having assisted his teenage student in the suicide, after the two were discovered at the bottom of Dingli Cliffs in March 2014.

The man, who was 23 years oldat the time, was also accused of having defiled the underage girl when he was her teacher.

Prison sources said Tanti was allowed out on prison leave several times but was never left unattended and was not allowed to have any intimate, physical encounters with his partner.

We will not stop until we get the truth

The sources said he impregnated her by smuggling his sperm out of the facility in breach of prison rules. 

However, Zahra said this was “bull sh**”, saying the family had spoken to an authority on IVF and were told that impregnating someone in that way had “less than zero” chance of success.

“Having someone believe that she got pregnant this way ‒ with sperm in a jar ‒ is an insult to anyone who has had to endure going through an IVF procedure. Assuming that the child is his, this meant that he was either allowed to sleep with her or there was some kind of formal IVF ‒ and the latter is even worse.

“Here, we are talking about a self-confessed, convicted murderer of a 15-year-old girl. He is a certified psychopath. The ramifications go far when you are dealing with these parameters,” he said, insisting that someone must take responsibility.

“Eventually it is Christopher Siegersma, the prison director, who is responsible and the prison official who was with Tanti during his so-called prison leave. During both times he was given prison leave, it was the same person and the prison director knows who that person is,” Zahra said.

Medical sources said that impregnating a woman by smuggling sperm was “very far-fetched” as sperm would have to be transported in a sterile container, within half an hour of insemination and at the right temperature. 

The sources added that if IVF was carried out formally, this would have had to be cleared by the Embryo Protection Authority. Sources close to prison said the procedure is suspected to have happened in a medical setting.

In a reply to questions yesterday, Siegersma said the prison authorities filed a police report “as soon as the allegations emerged”.

Questions sent to the home affairs ministry had not yet been answered at the time of writing.