Shortly after police arrested Jeremie Camilleri for having run over Pelin Kaya in Gżira, a tall man approached officers at the scene.

He was trying to call his girlfriend, but she was not picking up.

Police officers dialled her number – and a phone which officers found next to Kaya started to ring.

Officers on Monday recalled how Kaya’s boyfriend had chanced upon the site where she was murdered as he walked the route she usually took, in the hope of finding her.

It was Kaya’s birthday and he had flown to Malta to be with her, a court heard previously.  

Kaya was killed in January in a horrific – and allegedly intentional – crash by a vehicle driven by Camilleri, who was drunk and high on cocaine at the time.

Apart from murdering Kaya, Camilleri is alleged to have assaulted eyewitnesses at the scene and pelted the dying Kaya with stones, screaming that he wanted to “be famous” as officers tased and arrested him.

He is pleading not guilty to charges.

Eyewitnesses have recalled in a previous court sitting how the victim's grief-stricken boyfriend broke down after discovering what had happened.

An officer who accompanied Camilleri to his BMW at the police compound one day after the incident recalled Camilleri telling him: “It’s a strong car, considering the extent of the crash. But I’m strong too, because when I got out I beat every guy there.”

He said that “in a normal tone”, homicide squad officer Gary Scerri testified on Monday.

Police searched the car following Camilleri’s arrest but found nothing of note.

The court heard the testimony of police officers who reached the scene of the crime and found Kaya lying face up on the pavement, her mobile close by and white shoes around 10 metres away.

She was unresponsive, even after CPR. 

As paramedics tended to her, RIU officers arrested Camilleri, who was aggressive and needed to be subdued.

The wipers on Camilleri’s BMW were still on when officer Dylan Pace reached the site from the Sliema police station.

It was Pace who discovered that the tall man looking for his missing girlfriend was calling Kaya’s phone, and he told the court that Kaya’s phone had several missed calls from the man.

Later at around 5am, Pace went to Mater Dei, where Camilleri was asleep, handcuffed to his hospital bed.

Pace told the court he recognised the accused: Camilleri had been escorted to court just a few weeks earlier, to face theft charges in an unrelated case.

The case continues next week.

AG lawyers Kaylie Bonett and Nathaniel Falzon prosecuted, assisting Inspector Kurt Zahra.

Lawyers Alfred Abela and Rene’ Darmanin were defence counsel. Lawyers Shazoo Ghaznavi, Charlon Gouder and Ramona Attard appeared parte civile.