Updated 5.20pm with sister's testimony
A man who is pleading insanity at the time he stabbed his mother and aunt to death at the family’s Għargħur home, was convinced that the pair were conspiring to kill him and his delusion persisted today, psychiatrists testified at his trial on Wednesday.
Kevin Micallef is undergoing trial by jury to determine whether he was insane when he committed the stabbing early in July 2018 after allegedly hearing Maria Carmela Fenech, his aunt asking his mother, Antonia Micallef, whether “he had realized.”
That comment, on the back of an almost sleepless night and an ever-present belief that the two were putting something in his coffee, had suddenly made him “click,” Micallef later told police.
Putting aside his unfinished cup of strong coffee, Micallef told police he had grabbed a long knife from the kitchen and headed into the washroom striking his aunt with the weapon before turning upon his mother.
The aunt was killed on site, while her sister passed away a few hours later after being rushed to hospital by an ambulance team dispatched to the crime scene following a call to 112 he himself made.
Medico-legal expert Mario Scerri took the witness stand on Wednesday, giving a detailed account of the forensic evidence he had personally attested after he got to the scene at 7:40am.
Fenech’s corpse lay face up on the patterned tiled floor, close to the washing machine that was splattered with blood. Her arms were spread out, knife wounds visible on the thighs and there was a pool of blood and more blood stains on the floor.
The alleged murder weapon, a long-bladed pointed knife with one cutting edge lay blood-smeared on a white table outside the washroom in the inner courtyard, next to a potted plant, a bunch of keys and a glass.
The accused’s mother had suffered lesions on the neck and had long cuts on her hands, indicating that she had tried to defend herself against the blows.
The doctor had noticed the accused standing on the pavement outside the house that day.
He looked scared and was trembling, recalled Scerri. His movements had immediately prompted the doctor to advise referral to Mount Carmel Hospital.
Huntington's diagnosis
Those movements, described in medical terms as ‘ballo di San Vito’ were symptomatic of Huntington’s disease.
A blood test carried out at a laboratory in Germany subsequently confirmed that Micallef was suffering from that disease which caused erosion of brain cells and was irreversible.
But at the time of the incident in 2018, he had not yet been diagnosed.
“It’s rather ugly. There’s no cure for it,” said psychiatrist Maria Axiak, one of a line of specialists summoned by the prosecution on Wednesday.
He was still confused, still did not realize what had happened- Medical expert
Axiak said she had taken Micallef under her care at Mount Carmel Hospital's Forensic Unit where he was admitted hours after the crime on July 23, 2018.
“He was still confused, still did not realize what had happened,” recalled the psychiatrist.
As time passed and medication began to take effect, realization began to dawn on the accused, who was overcome by sadness.
Micallef went through trauma, as reality sank in, missing out on sleep for months on end on account of flashbacks.
When the blood test from Germany confirmed the “rather heavy” diagnosis of Huntington’s disease, family support was very important at that stage.
Delusional thoughts
That disease, coupled with psychosis, meant that at the time of the double attack, Micallef was acting under the “fixed false belief” that his relatives were conspiring to kill him.
That belief or delusion was confirmed by all seven psychiatrists who testified on Wednesday.
Two groups of specialists said they had assessed the accused and prepared two separate reports, all confirming that the man lacked “mens rea” (the will and understanding) when he committed the stabbing.
“He saw no alternative. Unless he did something they would kill him,” explained psychiatrist Joseph Cassar who testified via video link.
His colleagues, Ethel Felice and Nigel Camilleri, confirmed that Micallef had acted under that belief that was strongly ingrained in his mind.
Questioned at length by the jurors, the psychiatrists explained that they had discussed whether Micallef was lying and was making up a story.
“But his account was relatively consistent from A to B and then Huntington’s was diagnosed. It was very unlikely that he took all professionals for a ride.”
The fact that he had dialled 112 instead of trying to escape, was in itself further proof of his insanity.
Professor Anton Grech took the witness stand jointly with his colleagues George Debono and Anthony Zahra, likewise confirming that Micallef suffered from psychosis within the context of Huntington’s disease.
His psychotic state originated months prior to the crime and when committing the attack Micallef was delusional and in a state of insanity.
“He had no autonomy, no free will.”
Consultant neurologist Malcolm Vella said she had examined Micallef some three years ago.
The patient had complained of memory loss and hallucinations, saying that he heard voices controlling him. Certain defects in eye movement were indicative of his as-yet-undiagnosed condition.
But the DNA test results from Germany left no doubt.
The disease is present when results show 40 plus repeats, explained the witness.
In Micallef’s case, the result was 44.
The accused’s father and brother had also been similarly diagnosed and had passed away at a young age.
Sister recalls a sudden change
Micallef’s sister, Karen Camilleri, testified that her brother was a “true gentleman” who always went out of his way to help his mother.
But in the weeks before the murders, something had drastically changed, she recalled.
“Kevin changed a lot. He began to fight with everyone,” his sister testified.
She told the court that he had called his brother-in-law asking for money, and claimed she was jealous of him.
The Wednesday before the murders, he had turned up at her husband’s workplace, armed with a metal bar and demanding €2000.
“He was doubtlessly losing his mind,” she testified.
On the day before the incident, Camilleri received a text message from her brother, telling her that he would “move out” of the family home so “that they could partition [the property].”
“It was a nonsensical message,” said the witness, explaining that the siblings had never had any discussions about family property. “It was all in the mind…He imagined it all but nothing happened.”
“I always believed that he was a good man and I will do everything to help him until I die. I forgave him.”
She said that she visited her brother at Mount Carmel regularly and were it not for those family visits, “he had no one.” “He’s got Huntington’s and that’s what caused all this.”
Defence emphasises medical assessments
The trial now reaches its final stages.
Defence lawyer Francois Dalli urged jury members to detach themselves from prejudice and bias and emphasised the fact that all psychiatrists had confirmed Micallef’s insanity.
The tiredness the accused had complained of, the movements noticed by doctor Scerri immediately after the murders as well as his depression all added up. “Huntington’s is known as the Devil’s disease,” with symptoms similar to Parkinson’s, ALS and dementia, said Dalli.
The fact that the accused had dialled 112 instead of trying to escape, showed his behaviour was not normal, the defence lawyer argued.
"His paranoia had long been there. He believed his mother was the cause of his marriage breakdown, that she scared off any potential partners to keep him to herself. He knew that killing was wrong but the will not to do so was absent," Dalli argued.
Madam Justice Consuelo Scerri Herrera is presiding.
AG lawyers Sean Gabriel Azzopardi and Kaylie Bonett are prosecuting.
Lawyer Francois Dalli is defence counsel.