Roderick Cassar jailed for 40 years after admitting to murder of wife Bernice

Updated 8.52am

An abusive husband who murdered his wife as she drove to work has been jailed for 40 years after changing his plea to guilty. 

Roderick Cassar shot mother-of-two Bernice, 40, in her neck and chest at close range after he stopped her in traffic on her way to work in Corradino on 22 November 2022.

Cassar initially denied murder but changed his plea on Wednesday as part of a plea bargain that would see him jailed for 40 years.  A lawyer representing the family said they also agreed.

Mr Justice Neville Camilleri in delivering the sentence strongly condemned Cassar's actions.

"He ended the life of a person who was not only his then-current spouse but whom he also shared two children with," he said.

Roderick Cassar admitted murder, a month before he was due to stand trial. Photo: Facebook

Speaking outside court after the sentencing, Alessia Cilia Portelli said her sister Bernice had taken the courageous step to leave her husband. 

“Yet despite taking that decision, she did not manage to achieve what she wanted for her family, because one person decided that if she was not his, she belonged to nobody. Worse than that, she does not deserve to live," she said. 

Cassar was arraigned and charged with the murder on November 24, 2022, two days after the shooting, becoming the first person ever charged with willful femicide, an aggravated version of the homicide offence. He initially pleaded not guilty and was due to undergo trial by jury next month.

Witnesses had told police that the mother-of-two was dragged from her car by her estranged husband, who then pulled a shotgun from his own vehicle and shot her in the chest and face.

He was arrested at his home in Qrendi after a 17-hour standoff. 

The victim's sister had immediately complained that although Bernice had filed several reports about domestic violence, the authorities had ignored her cries for help.

The murder scene at Corradino. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

A week before her murder Bernice told police that her husband had breached a court order designed to protect her after he held a knife to her throat the previous May. In July, while they were living separately, he threatened to “kill you and blow your brains out.”

Bernice also filed a police report the day before her murder. She was shot dead the following morning.

Inquiry found the state failed the young mother

A subsequent inquiry by retired judge Geoffrey Valenzia established that the state system failed the young mother, particularly because of a lack of resources and a heavy caseload.

The inquiry had recommended a change to the way the risk faced by potential victims was assessed, including a triage system. The so-called DASH system  had found that Bernice Cassar only faced a medium risk.

New standard operating procedures were also to be drawn up. The inquiry also recommended a stronger focus on the education system on domestic violence.

In delivering sentence on Wednesday Justice Neville Camilleri also fined Cassar €232.94. 

AG lawyers Anthony Vella and Kaylie Bonett prosecuted. Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri appeared for the accused. Lawyers Marita Pace Dimech and Ann Marie Cutajar appeared for the family as parte civile.