The night before she was shot dead, femicide victim Bernice Cassar told her friend and colleague that she was feeling down and scared.

“We were speaking at 10.30pm on Monday night. Bernice told me she was feeling down and wanted to cry. She asked me to take her to the police headquarters to pick up another police report she had filed against her husband.

“I told her that of course I would... But the following morning I did not take her anywhere. Instead, on my way driving to work I saw her body covered by a white sheet after he had shot her,” her friend and colleague told Times of Malta.

Cassar was murdered at 8am on Tuesday morning while driving to work at Corradino industrial estate, Paola. She had been shot twice with a shotgun. Her estranged husband Roderick is the only suspect in the case.

Sitting in the office they shared at Merit Malta, where Cassar worked in human resources, her friends stared at her empty desk.

“Usually we get to the office before her. This morning I decided to bring cheesecakes for the office, so I arrived later than usual. We all arrived a bit later. Had we arrived before her – as usual – perhaps we would have seen him and warned her to stay away…", said her friend, preferring to remain unidentified because she still feared the suspect.

The interview was carried out a few hours after the crime.

Husband was 'obsessed' and 'jealous

She added that ever since Bernice left her matrimonial home in May – when the separation proceedings started – she started to open up at the office about the realities she faced at home.

The friends had known each other for 16 years but Bernice only started opening up about her life at home recently.

“She used to cover up for him,” the friend said, adding that Roderick Cassar was “obsessed” and “jealous” about an office group chat the colleagues had – even though it was just a place for innocent chat.

“He wanted her back at all costs. He was jealous,” another colleague said, adding that she said he had told her: “If I can’t enjoy our children, you won’t either.”

He was not seeing the two children much since the court had issued a protection order against him in July.

This was issued after she reported that he had held a knife to her neck – and the case was put off for hearing until November next year.

'He always seemed to know where she was'

Despite the court's protection order, there were many occasions when he approached her.

“He always seemed to know where she was,” the friend said, stressing that she did not want to be named.

“There were many police reports filed. But nothing was done. She was a kind person. She often hesitated to file the reports and would tell him to go seek psychological help,” the friend said, pointing out that Bernice still had family photos, including a photo of her husband, on her office desk, amid the Christmas decorations and painting by her children.

“She tried to ask for protection, but nothing was done. In such cases the police should take note of these reports and not let days and months pass. Now see what happened… how can we explain this to those children?” she said.