Finger marks and bruises were found around the neck of a woman who was allegedly strangled to death by her partner in an apartment in Gozo, court-appointed experts testified on Friday.
Forensic doctor Mario Scerri and two pathologists who conducted autopsies on the corpse of Rita Ellul said the victim had fingerprints around her neck and also severe bruising in various parts of her body.
Doctors Ali Salfraz and Olaf Woods confirmed that “her cause of death was asphyxia due to manual pressure applied to the neck”.
They were testifying in the compilation of evidence against Lawrence Abina, 30, who is pleading not guilty to murdering Ellul on February 26.
Ellul was found dead in her bed in an Għajnsielem apartment. In a previous court sitting, a police inspector had testified that Abina confessed to the crime while under interrogation.
Scerri explained that he had at first been summoned after Ellul’s lifeless body was discovered in bed.
He said he was immediately suspicious because Ellul was only wearing a tracksuit and no socks, with only her legs covered with the quilt and the bed done up. However, he had nothing to back his suspicions as the body had no external visible marks.
The corpse was taken to hospital and that was where he saw the bruises and swelling around the eyes which was a clear indication of asphyxia due to pressure on the neck. He said he also confirmed that she had already been dead for around 10 hours.
“There were finger marks around the neck and she had a bruise on the right eye caused by a blunt trauma,” Scerri told Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech when the case continued on Friday.
The pathologists said that a second autopsy confirmed the findings of the first one: that the victim had died due to asphyxia caused by manual pressure applied to the neck.
The case continues.
Abina is represented by lawyer Joseph Grech. The prosecution is led by Attorney General lawyers Anthony Vella and Nathanial Falzon and police inspectors Kurt Zahra, Josef Gauci and Wayne Camilleri.
Lawyers Franco Debono, Marion Camilleri and Francesca Zarb are appearing on behalf of the victim’s family.