Police officers searching Abner Aquilina’s cell at Mount Carmel’s Forensic Unit were met with a barrage of vulgar language by the inmate who bragged about how he had murdered Paulina Dembska, cursed the officers and proclaimed himself “the antichrist”.
The search was triggered in February after fellow inmates spoke about how Aquilina used to “brag” on and on about how he had strangled and raped the Polish student in January last year at Sliema’s Independence Gardens.
Aquilina had been arrested at St Julian’s after causing a commotion inside the Balluta church, shortly after Dembska’s body was found on a ramp leading down to the gardens from the Sliema promenade in the early hours of January 2, 2022.
He is pleading not guilty to murdering the 29-year-old student, with his defence seeking to have him declared insane.
Just over a year later, a police search party headed to Aquilina’s cell after getting wind that the youth was speaking about the murder to his fellow inmates at the forensic unit.
On February 2 at around 8.35pm, Inspector Christina Delia led four other officers to the unit’s cell number seven. They stepped inside accompanied by a prison warden.
Aquilina was on his bunk bed, wearing a white sleeveless vest and dark pants.
“I don’t know what you’re looking for and how many times you’re searching,” started off the accused as he held out his middle finger to the officer who was taking his photograph before being asked to remove his vest.
That vest was exhibited in court on Wednesday.
Aquilina had sketched an image on the back of that piece of clothing and the image was allegedly of “the Polish woman being raped”.
One of his former cell mates, who also testified on Wednesday, identified the scruffy vest, pointing out that the ink was now faded.
Aquilina smiled and giggled throughout the witness’s testimony.
When the police were about to take away the vest, Aquilina had objected, saying “that’s mine”.
He then gave vent to a volley of vulgar and abusive language, telling the police officers that they “could do nothing to him”.
“What evidence!” Aquilina ranted, venturing into a graphic description of the rape and cheekily asking the officers whether they wanted “a pubic hair for DNA testing”.
His tirade continued for a good half hour as the officers seized a small black diary tucked away inside his bed and three A4 sheets written over in the accused’s handwriting.
“I’ll go to prison. Oh, how scary, going to prison! How scary,” the accused continued.
Then as the search came to an end, while the inspector was writing down a receipt of all the items seized, Aquilina said, “You’re greatly cursed! I’m the antichrist.”
And when presented with the document which he was to sign, rather than put his signature, Aquilina signed off with a swear word.
The whole episode was captured on the officers’ bodycams.
Two other officers who assisted in the search also testified on Wednesday, recalling the accused’s behaviour as detailed by Inspector Delia.
As the hearing came to an end, the court, presided over by Magistrate Marse-Ann Farrugia, upheld a request by the defence, ordering that the accused was to be sent back to Mount Carmel Hospital as originally decreed by the court last year.
Aquilina’s lawyers thus succeeded in reversing an administrative decision which saw the accused transferred from a regular ward where he had been registering progress, to the forensic unit which was managed by prison authorities and which, they claimed, did not offer the same level of care. "
The case continues in October.
AG lawyers Anthony Vella and Darlene Grima prosecuted, together with inspectors Shaun Pawney and Wayne Camilleri. Lawyers Mario Mifsud, Nicholas Mifsud and legal procurator Colin Galea are defence counsel. Lawyers Stefano Filletti and Stephanie Caruana appeared parte civile.