Bernice Cassar, the mother-of-two shot dead last November, confided in her cousin a day before the murder that she was "scared” hoping that police would arrest her husband, who had “completely lost control.”

The following morning, on November 22, Roderick Cassar shot his estranged wife at the Corradino Industrial Estate just outside her workplace after months of domestic turmoil that saw her move out of the matrimonial home.

Roderick Cassar now stands accused of wilful murder and is the first person to face charges under the femicide amendment to the Criminal Code. His lawyers are challenging the constitutionality of that amendment in separate proceedings.

When the compilation of evidence proceedings continued on Wednesday, Petra Jones told the court she was very close to her cousin Bernice throughout their childhood.

Jones was unaware of the troubles her cousin was facing in her marriage until she was told that Bernice had left her matrimonial home in Qrendi in May and moved in with her parents in Zebbuġ.

“I was shocked,” said the witness, as she recalled her first impression when she chanced upon her cousin outside her relatives’ house.

“She wasn’t the Bernice I knew.”

From that day, the two cousins began to meet as they accompanied their kids to religious doctrine classes or to the playground, sometimes going for a coffee at a Zebbuġ cafeteria. They also went for an hour’s walk early every morning.

When she asked Bernice about the day’s plans, she would say that it all depended on whether and when Roderick would call for the kids.

He never stuck to the hours agreed upon and that meant that Bernice had to put up with his irregular schedule, often getting to know “just half an hour or so ahead.”

Husband's 'manipulation'

She would tell her cousin that she had been manipulated by her husband “from day one” and was convinced that keeping irregular hours when calling for the couple’s children was “another manipulative technique.”

When, in July, Roderick was admitted to hospital, he would insist on seeing the kids and that their mother - not anyone else - was to accompany them to hospital.

With a daily job until 4pm, housework and other family responsibilities, it was a tall order for Bernice but she tried to take the children to visit their father.

“He manipulates me even from his hospital bed,” she confided to her cousin.

One day, while the two were having coffee at a cafeteria the accused called the couple’s son, asking him to switch the call to video so that he could see where Bernice was. She told her son that she would call his father back later.

But in that hour, Roderick called some eight or nine times, testified the witness, recalling Bernice’s words that she “would never recover since he would keep chasing her.”

The witness recalled how, following an incident on Mother’s Day when Roderick allegedly placed a knife against Bernice's neck after their umpteenth argument in the presence of their young children, Bernice had plucked up courage and walked out, only taking “the clothes she was wearing.”

“I can’t go back….He showed no remorse….This is not going to change,” the victim later confided to her relatives, also worried by the fact that those violent scenes were also badly affecting her kids.

In June, the accused would constantly call his estranged wife, who did all she could to cut down on that communication, which included long telephone conversations where he would plead with her to go back.

Bernice had insisted that the only way of fighting the “manipulation that existed from day one” was to reduce contact.

Fear and pity

But she was afraid that Roderick would damage her car or drum up some scene at her workplace.

“Funnily enough, she would also confess that she pitied him,” went on her cousin.

He was constantly criticising her, making her feel “worthless,” that she got nothing right and that “it was all her fault.”

It was quite a feat for Bernice even to go back to her Qrendi home to fetch summer clothing for herself and the kids as well as their toys, which the accused never allowed them to take to their grandparents’ home.

“She had planned it all very carefully,” recalled the witness, describing how Bernice had managed it while her husband was in hospital.

Following another violent episode when she visited the accused at the hospital and he had placed two fingers on her neck, and later damaged her car door, Bernice filed a police report.

“August was quiet,” and her cousin said she had felt “somewhat more secure,” but there was one message from her husband after her son told him he had been to Għar Lapsi with his mother’s relatives.

“I’ll blow your head off in front of your father,” the accused allegedly threatened Bernice.

November was the month when Bernice realised that she could never get away from her husband.

“I would like to pay you back but the kids would suffer,” he texted the victim another time.

30 missed calls

When she blocked him so as to focus on her work, he resorted to her work number and email instead.

“She once found 30 missed calls.”

The witness wrapped up her account with her cousin’s final message on November 21.

“I’m pretty scared now. If only they’d arrest him this week. He’s completely lost control,” Bernice had messaged.

Bernice had also sought help from a psychotherapist, facing difficulties in attending sessions because of her husband’s habit of calling for their children at irregular hours. 

But she managed to attend some 15 sessions between May and November. 

“Her symptoms were very much in line with trauma,” explained the psychotherapist when testifying on Wednesday. 

Bernice would not cry much but “her face would go cold, her voice would drop and she trembled a lot,” said the witness as she described the patient’s demeanour throughout those sessions. 

She was not eating much, was missing out on sleep and was visibly very scared. She had recounted the episodes she had been through with her husband and was still facing even after she left home. 

Sometimes he would call her during sessions, checking on her. 

Her children were also scared, telling her not to go out fearing that something would happen to her. 

She had also lost weight as the months passed, went on the witness. 

“She was terrified,” said the psychotherapist.

In fact, the victim would go to work, the psychotherapy sessions and home. 

Their last session took place on November 5. 

That day “she [Bernice] seemed better…”said the witness, recalling how the patient had strengthened her will to move on.

“Enough. This cannot go on,” Bernice had said, after making up her mind to leave her matrimonial home. 

“She loved her husband a lot. So her own safety took second place,” the psychotherapist remarked. 

The case, being heard by Magistrate Joseph Mifsud, continues next month. 

Inspectors Shaun Pawney and Paul Camilleri prosecuted together with AG lawyer Angele Vella.

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Franco Debono are defence counsel.

Lawyers Stefano Filletti, Marita Pace Dimech, Anne Marie Cutajar and Rodianne Sciberras are appearing for Bernic Cassar's family.