The mother of a man killed in August's hit-and-run in Żejtun, had filed a missing person’s report at the local police station just an hour before her son’s lifeless body was spotted by a passer-by, the morning after the fatality. 

That passerby told a nearby resident who, in turn, alerted the police about the discovery of the body, later identified as Antoine Degabriele whose mother had reported his absence when he failed to return from work the night before, on August 4. 

That discovery set in motion a series of events leading up to the arrest of Dean Donovan Frendo, the 23-year-old driver who is pleading not guilty to involuntary murder after allegedly running down Degabriele in Triq President Anton Buttigieg that night. 

When proceedings continued on Thursday, prosecuting Inspector Shaun Pawney testified that the victim’s body was found lying face up on a slope that tilted downwards from the road to a field, not visible at street level. 

The victim, hands raised upwards, had a visible bloodied wound on the right side of his ribs.

Given the heat of the morning, the corpse had already developed a darkening of the skin, making it rather difficult to make out the blood stains. 

Close to the body, a Tal-Linja card and scraps of clothing lay on the ground, while the victim’s shoes were found further away in the field. 

A headlight, possibly dislodged from the hit-and-run vehicle, together with other car parts, was spotted nearby. 

At the time, the victim was still unidentified, explained Pawney. 

An engineer, appointed as an expert in the magisterial inquiry that kicked off soon after, gave the first indications as to the type of vehicle likely involved in the incident. 

The debris appeared to show that it was a Mazda model - a Mazda 2 or a silver Demio, the expert had said. 

Car parts found further down the road also indicated that the driver was coming from the direction of Wied il-Għajn and that the impact took place a few metres away from the pedestrian lights. 

Asked by defence lawyer Franco Debono about the distance between the point of impact and the lights, the witness confirmed that although the moment of impact had not been caught on CCTV footage, it had occurred metres away from the lights. 

“So the victim was not crossing the street at the lights?” asked Debono. 

“No,” came the reply. 

The victim was subsequently identified by relatives who went on site. 

Working on information that Degabriele was working at a Marsaxlokk bar the previous night, investigators gathered footage from a camera close to the crime scene. 

That footage did not capture the moment of impact but showed the victim being flung forcefully and a car rushing past at high velocity, just metres away from the pedestrian lights in the middle of the road. 

Piecing together footage gathered from the area, police established a sequence of events leading up to the fatal incident.

One of those videos showed the suspect vehicle driving away from the scene with only one headlight flashing.

That appeared to corroborate the fact that one headlight had been found on the road at the crime scene. 

The fatal impact took place at around 11.20pm. 

Eleven minutes later, the suspect vehicle was caught on footage opposite the MaltaPost office at Birżebbuġa. 

Frendo’s mobile phone, seized from his room when police arrested him at around 1am on August 6, was also localised at the crime scene.

The phone first connected with an antenna close to the incident spot.

Later, the user connected to another antenna opposite the Birżebbuġa MaltaPost office and finally to another antenna in the vicinity of the Marsaxlokk harbour, close to the residence where Frendo was subsequently arrested. 

'Accused never said anyone had borrowed his car'

The suspect chose not to answer most questions when interrogated. 

He first told police that the Mazda Demio was at a Xgħajra garage, apparently trying to give the impression that the vehicle had not been in his possession at the time of the incident. 

He said that he had not paid the licence nor the insurance because he could not afford the expense. 

But he never said that he let anyone borrow the car. 

And the panel beater who was asked to “urgently” fix the damaged Mazda confirmed that it was Frendo who had taken the car for repairs and sent him car parts to replace the damaged ones throughout the day, following the night of the incident. 

All damaged parts were retrieved from the panel beater’s garage, except for the windscreen which had been removed by the waste collector. 

Asked by parte civile lawyer Jason Azzopardi to confirm what Frendo had said about the car, Pawney said that the driver had told police that his vehicle was at a Xgħajra garage at the time. 

The witness also said that police still had no conclusive evidence about the second vehicle seen in the footage at the time of the fatality. 

The case, presided over by magistrate Ian Farrugia, continues in December. 

Inspector Roderick Spiteri is also prosecuting. Lawyers Franco Debono and Francesca Zarb are defence counsel. Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta appeared parte civile.