'Find the kids an orphanage, I killed your daughter' Roderick Cassar told victim’s father

Roderick Cassar called his victim’s father telling him to go find an orphanage for his grandchildren, a court heard on Thursday.

Roderick Cassar, who is charged with the femicide of his wife Bernice, and who is pleading not guilty, was back in the dock on Thursday.

He is also being charged with stalking his wife prior to the Paola murder in late November.

Roderick Cassar was arrested at 2am on Wednesday 23 November by the police’s Special Intervention Unit after a forced entry into his Qrendi house where he had been holed up for 17 hours. Police used flash-bangs to immobilise the murder suspect, and also seized the suspected murder weapon, a shotgun.

Taking the witness stand, Inspector Shawn Pawney told the court how Cassar had made a series of phone calls, shortly after killing his wife.

Pawney had explained how the aggressor had called Bernice Cilia’s father telling to find an orphanage for their children, before hanging up. Her father called him back, with Cassar telling him “he murdered his daughter.”

“Another witness spotted the victim’s car on social media and tried to call her. Roderick answered the phone and told her he had killed Bernice,” the inspector said.

Pawney said that they identified Cassar as the suspect in this murder because of these phone calls and what he had written on his Facebook profile

Several people witnessed the murder

The court also heard how a number of people had witnessed Bernice's murder, with two workers at Merit Ltd, the company Bernice used to work at, having their morning tea recalling how they heard screaming during the murder.

One of the workers started recording the incident and in the recording, Bernice was heard screaming for help and the aggressor is seen waving cars away “as if there was a traffic accident.”

In the footage, his car can be seen parked in a way which blocks traffic.

Another witness taught the aggressor’s car was involved in car accident, rushing to help the victim.

“Roderick told him he better leave or he would shoot him,” continued Pawney, in fact, the witness fled, and a few seconds later, he heard the gun being cocked and shots fired.

Another woman was on her way to help Bernice as she laid on the floor, but recalled how she had seen him aiming at firing at the victim. The inspector also said that another commuter who was in the area had heard the two shots being fired, and tried to drive towards the aggressor, but was persuaded not to do so by his wife.

Another witness saw the aggressor’s and the victim’s vehicles and called 112.

This woman informed police that she observed Roderick shoot several times at the victim, with one shot hitting her in the chest and another in the head. She considered driving towards the aggressor for a split second, but got afraid.

The inspector explained how the incident lasted seven minutes.

Magistrate slams prosecution

During the sitting, Magistrate Joe Mifsud called out the prosecution for summoning witnesses who already testified, to describe the same incident, stating it created more confusion.

“Maybe one day the Attorney General will understand, or maybe she will when she loses another case,” he remarked.

Mifsud then asked what actions were taken after a police report was filed the night before the murder. Pawney replied by saying that he is was not aware of such information.

Meanwhile, when asked by the victim’s lawyer about the relationship between the accused and the victim, Pawney replied that on the eve of the murder, there were several missed calls from Cassar to the victim.

“Between 9:30pm and 10pm approximately seven phone calls were made to the victim's mobile phone which were not picked up and two phone calls to the victim's father,” Pawney said.

The inspector added that the victim's family told police they did not know of any marital issues between the aggressor and the victim before January 2022. 

“After finding out about the quarrels between the couple, the victim moved to another place after Cassar had threatened her,” Pawney concluded.

The case continues on 19 January 2023.

Lawyers Stefano Filletti, Marita Pace Dimech, Ann Marie Cutajar and Rodianne Sciberras are appearing parte civile.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri are defence counsel.

AG lawyers Angele Vella and Darlene Grima are assisting Inspectors Wayne Camilleri, Shaun Pawney and Paul Camilleri as prosecutors.