News from the first hearing in the murder case against Abner Aquilina, charged with raping and killing Paulina Dembska, dominates front-page headlines in local newspapers this Saturday.

Times of Malta leads with a summary of police testimony in the case, writing that an eyewitness who saw the rape thought it was a couple having sex.

The newspaper also gives prominence to news that Malta is sliding down an ECDC list of countries of concern, as new COVID-19 cases decline.

The Malta Independent highlights police testimony that Aquilina told investigators that his mind was a “cooker” on the morning of the murder and that he heard “frequencies” inside his head.

The newspaper also gives prominence to arguments made by former PL leader Joe Brincat on Facebook, in which Brincat argues that Joseph Muscat’s rights were breached because police searched his house too early in the morning.

L-Orizzont dedicates its entire front page to the Dembska murder case, emphasising how Aquilina told the police that the dystopian film A Clockwork Orange reflected his own life.

In-Nazzjon splits its front page, with half noting that the case against Aquilina started on Friday, and the other half citing claims on social media that Joseph Muscat was due to receive more than half a million euro from a company linked to Steward Global Healthcare.