Judge to rule on bail for woman accused of double homicide

A judge is to issue a decree from his chambers over an appeal against the refusal of bail to a woman accused of murdering two British pensioners in her Qawra flat.



In January this year, 42-year-old Dragana Mijalkovic was arrested on suspicion of murder in relation to the death of Englishmen David Grant, 68, and Neville Ayers, 78, and with knowingly endangering their health.



Ayers' body had been found in Mijalkovic's apartment. The police had noted abrasions on both his forearms and an autopsy had established the cause of death to be asphyxia. Mijalkovic, a Serbian national, had become a suspect after it was noted that nine months prior to Ayers' death, Grant had also died in the same flat. The cause of Grant's death had been established as having been pulmonary oedema.


Mijalkovic had filed an appeal to a decision by the court of magistrates to refuse her application for bail.


“The main civilian witnesses have testified” defence lawyer Peter Fenech submitted this morning. “All that are left are court experts.”

The serious nature of the accusations, as cited by the prosecution, were “certainly not a justification for withholding bail,” he said. While it was a fact that she had no family ties to Malta – the second ground for which bail had been refused – the lawyer pointed out that she had been arraigned in January 2017 over a crime that had taken place in February 2016. “She had over 11 months to pack her bags and leave Malta and she didn't.”

Police had spoken to her after the second death, months ago. She also hadn't left the island after her face featured on news coverage of the case, which led to her being unable to find alternative accommodation. She had consistently insisted on her innocence, Fenech said. “She could have left before the police spoke to her, but she's still here.”

The defence had suggested that she stay in a flat in the same apartment complex, arguing today that it was not true that she would still be very close to witnesses if she moved there, because those who had testified had since moved on to other accommodation.

“I cannot understand the basis on which we are denying her a fundamental right. The court had said that she was not trustworthy in its decree of 1 June this year...I don't know. I can't reply to that. We need a basis for refusing bail.”

The process of issuing a bill of indictment is a long one, the principle is that bail is always granted, he said.

In her reply, lawyer Elaine Rizzo from the office of the Attorney General, argued that the serious nature of the offence was a fact that must be examined.

The situation was “very particular,” she said. From the moment one elderly man moved in with her, his health started to decline and he died shortly after. Although the cause of death had not suggested foul play, months later, the second death was deemed suspicious as it had been due to asphyxiation.

Investigations into the second death had turned up a number of videos showing the men in terrible state of health, whilst the accused repeatedly asked them to confirm that they didn't want to go to hospital. The replies by the men, who were also filmed in a bathtub full of their own faeces, were barely audible, such was their weak state she said.

The insistent questioning, asking about hospital many times in a few minutes aroused suspicion that the accused had done so to protect herself, argued the prosecutor.

“This is not the classical case of involuntary homicide, where someone shoots someone by accident.”

The main civilian witnesses are the neighbours who had seen the ill-treatment and testified about it, she conceded, but there were others, too, amongst them casino employees and persons the accused had bought food from with the men's credit cards.

On her ties to Malta, the lawyer argued that Mijalkovic doesn't have a job and had been living off the men's money even after their death. Apart from these proceedings, she has no ties to Malta. She could easily leave at any moment.

“I've visited these flats. They are in the same apartment block. The apartments are tiny. Since these visits these flats are shared between two people. The eyewitnesses had been residents in this block and it is true that they had moved to other accommodation, but there is also the landlord and his son. “How will we explain to jurors why we allowed her to continue to reside in the same place the crime took place? This alternative address is completely unacceptable.”

A previous request for bail had been refused by magistrate Antonio Micallef Trigona. “This magistrate, who is nearing retirement and not harsh when it comes to bail, also felt that bail should be refused,” she said.

Fenech posited that the women had called an ambulance. “I had challenged the police as to why no residents had tried to help.”

One neighbour had described the accused as “not exactly my friend. She was instrumental in my losing two jobs in the past,” he said, adding that the landlord had not been listed as one of the prosecution's witnesses.