Vuk Milić told medical officer he killed Jesmond Gatt and ‘wanted to get it off his chest’

Vuk Milic, a 22-year-old Serbian national, has been charged with the murder of his cellmate, Jesmond Gatt, at the Forensic Unit in Mount Carmel Hospital. 

Before Magistrate Nadine Lia, the accused stated that he lived in Msida and is unemployed. He pleaded not guilty.  

The victim had died after succumbing to head injuries, as he was found in a pool of blood in the forensic ward. Gatt had a long criminal record and was recently released from prison after serving a four-year jail term, according to court records. His initial bail request on the charge of arson had been denied, leading to his detention at the forensic ward.

The prosecution said that the accused was being held in Mount Carmel Hospital after being charged with theft, and it was there that he spoke to an official about his involvement in a murder last summer.

Vuk Milić hides his face as he is dragged to court to be charged over the murder of 54-year-old Jesmond Gatt last July (Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

During the arraignment, parte civile lawyer Franco Debono told the court that he was not informed that the case had started. The court then restarted the arraignment.

The prosecution recalled that the inquiring inspector was informed that Vuk Milic had a conversation with a medical officer at the Correctional Services Agency and confessed to him that he was involved in the willful homicide of Jesmond Gatt. 

The prosecution said that police investigations into the death were also ongoing, and the inspector requested an arrest warrant for Milic. Milic was deemed fit for interrogation. He had allegedly confessed with Inspector Kurt Zahra that he was the one that killed Jesmond Gatt. 

The defence stated that the accused had allegedly confessed to the crime during this interrogation, despite not being in the presence of a lawyer.

Defence lawyer Jose Herrera asked the court to minute the validity of the accused’s statements, adding that the defence was not given disclosure on the evidence against their client. 

The prosecution counter argued that the accused had waived his rights upon initiating the interrogation procedure. They further added that the accused had wanted to “take something off his chest” and confessed to the medical officer at the prison, as he told them that he was the one that killed Jesmond Gatt. 

The prosecution further added that once the accused was certified that he was declared fit by a psychiatrist that he was able to be interrogated, he was informed of his rights “three times” and signed a document waiving his right to legal representation. 

Herrera, on behalf of the accused, requested the court to appoint a psychiatrist to validate and examine the accused’s capacity to follow proceedings, since the defence wishes to regulate itself on the plea of insanity. The defence will consider raising such a plea once the assessment is made.  

It has made it clear that it will not make a plea of insanity at this time, since it still requires full disclosure. As a precautionary measure it has requested the court to appoint a psychiatrist to analyse in a generic way the mental status of the defendant so that based on the police report, it could better consider giving and receiving instructions on the plea of insanity and the time of the offence.  

The court rejected the request on the basis of the fact that as postulated, it is too vague, and it cannot be exceeded according to the directions specified in the law. The court said it cannot move forward with the request to appoint a psychiatrist. 

Bail was not requested.

Lawyers Kaylie Bonett and Darlene Grima, from the Attorney General’s Office, along with Inspectors Kurt Zahra and Wayne Camilleri, representing the Commissioner of the Police led the prosecution 

Lawyers Jose Herrera, Alex Scerri Herrera, Matthew Xuereb headed the defence counsel.  

Lawyer Franco Debono was parte civile counsel.