Partner of Rita Ellul charged with homicide, pleads not guilty

A woman from Iklin, Rita Ellul, 49, was found dead inside a residence on Triq Dun Franġisk Mizzi, in Għajnsielem, Gozo.

The accused, Ellul's partner Lawerence Abna, 30, of Ghana, pleaded not guilty to homicide in the Gozo courts before Magistrate Bridgette Sultana. He did not request bail.

Lawyer Joseph Grech was defence counsel, while Franco Debono appeared for the victim's family.

The homicide occurred on Saturday, 26 February, at 12pm. On Tuesday, an autopsy concluded that she had been murdered.

Ellul had reported her partner to the police over domestic violence and the case remains ongoing in court, her daughter told The Times. The cause of death is believed to have been asphyxiation, with Ellul’s partner suspected of having suffocated her using a bed duvet.

A mother of three – Georgina, 31, Jessica, 26, and Glenn, 19 – Ellul was also the grandmother of eight-year-old Chanelle, Georgina’s daughter.

Ellul lived in Iklin but would occasionally spend weekends at her partner’s apartment in Gozo.