Bona murder: Marsaxlokk murder victim’s pistol misfired, says expert

Murder victim Anthony Borg’s had fired two shots from his handgun and had then manually cycled the weapon because a third round misfired, before he was fatally stabbed, according to ballistics expert Brigadier Maurice Calleja.

Allan Galea, a 36-year-old monti hawker from Marsaxlokk, is currently being tried of the murder of Anthony “Twanny” Borg, nicknamed il-Bona. Borg died in February 2010 after being stabbed three times in a Marsaxlokk square following an argument with the accused. Gunshots had been heard before the stabbing.

Brigadier Calleja, a ballistics expert with 45 years experience, ballistics expert Jesmond Cassar, together with Sgt Pierre Attard from the police forensics department testified this morning, answering questions about the report they had compiled during the inquiry.

The report concluded that at least two shots had been fired from the deceased’s chrome-plated Lorcin L25 semiautomatic handgun, which was exhibited in court today. Using the handgun recovered from the scene, Sgt. Attard demonstrated how spent cartridges are ejected from the right hand side of this particular weapon.

Two empty cartridge cases and one live round were recovered from the scene, said the Brigadier, adding that the weapon was recovered with its six-round magazine empty.

Answering questions from the jury and prosecutor regarding whether, in the case of a misfire, the ejected, live, round would bear any indicative marks, the experts replied in the affirmative. The percussion cap on the live round recovered from the scene did bear such a mark, he confirmed.

Lawyer Kristina Debattista, who together with lawyer Lara Lanfranco is representing the Office of the Attorney General, asked whether it would be feasible to hit a person with the weapon, at a range of 12-15m. Brigadier Calleja said it was feasible, but that it largely depended on the person handling the weapon.

Defence lawyer Giannella De Marco walked the jury through the loading and firing cycle of the weapon. The firing pin leaves microscopic marks on the percussion cap that are identifiable to the firing pin that made it with reasonable certainty, said the defence lawyer. Brigadier Calleja confirmed.

She referred to the live round collected at the scene, a relatively uncommon 6.35mm calibre handgun round, compatible with the Lorcin L25 handgun found under the body.

The lawyer reminded the jury that the experts had said that a light mark on the base of the round indicated that the round had been chambered and had either misfired or ejected as the weapon was re-cocked. “Now, this bullet has a mark from a firing pin strike but had not ignited, which means that the firer had tried to discharge it but the round proved defective and so he ejected it.”

De Marco pointed out that the weapon also has a safety catch, which must be disengaged before firing, as she attempted to emphasise the deliberate actions required to fire the weapon.

The Brigadier told the jury that a forensics lab in the UK had concluded that all the cartridges collected from the scene had been cycled through the particular weapon recovered from the crime scene, and had observed that the live round recovered had been marked by the weapon’s firing pin and concluded that the round was ejected when the misfired round was cleared.

Cross-examined by De Marco, the Brigadier agreed that the weapon’s short barrel “makes it slightly less accurate.” Running, the shooter’s thick fingers and the stubby barrel all contributed to a lack of accuracy in shooting, suggested the lawyer, who then posited that had the so-called warning shots been fired vertically into the air, the rounds would have fallen to the earth close to the shooter.

A discussion regarding the photographic documenting the post-mortem examination and autopsy of the deceased arose when the jury resumed in the afternoon. Giglio raised an objection to certain autopsy photographs being exhibited to the jurors, which the defence felt were gratuitous and irrelevant to the point being proven. Lanfranco contested his assertion, however, saying that the pictures did have relevance to the case and that the defence had not presented a legally valid reason to justify the photograph’s withdrawal.

The judge remarked that he also felt annoyed by the fact that select photographs had been included. He decreed that he would be compiling a list of the photographs which he did not want the jurors to be shown, before the jury reconvenes at 3pm.

Lawyers Lara Lanfranco and Kristina Debattista from the Attorney General's Office are leading the prosecution, while lawyer Giannella de Marco, Joe Giglio and Steven Tonna Lowell are defence counsel. Lawyers Franco Debono and Matthew Brincat are appearing parte civile for the family of the deceased.

Mr Justice Antonio Mizzi is presiding.