Attempted murder jury: Victim feared for her children, say witnesses

The jury trying former policeman Carmelo Cutajar for the attempted murder of his wife has heard several witnesses to the shooting testify that the woman's overriding concern had appeared to be the wellbeing of her children.

Cutajar, 51, from Rabat, is accused of going to the Point De Vue guesthouse, where his ex-wife Maria had been working, at around 1pm on September 26th 2012 and, after an argument, shooting her in the torso. Maria Cutajar survived her injuries.

This morning saw Rita Schembri, an ambulance nurse who had attended the scene of the shooting, testify. Upon entering the restaurant, she had found a woman lying on a sofa, the witness recalled . The woman had been “very agitated”, telling the nurse that she had been shot.

“Apart from being anxious, she appeared to be slightly in shock. I examined her and saw an entry wound on her lower chest.” One the way to hospital the victim had been very scared, telling the nurse that she was sure that her husband was going to go after her children, the witness explained.

Mark Chandler, who ran the Point DeVue guesthouse at the time appeared to corroborate this account. From the witness stand he explained that he had been in the kitchen preparing lunch when he had heard a commotion from the reception area. He emerged from the kitchen to find Maria Cutajar and a receptionist screaming and crying.

"Maria Cutajar was shouting 'he shot me, he shot me.' I asked her 'who shot you?' and she replied 'my husband.' Fortunately, my brother Adrian is a certified first aider and I called him to assist. We took her to a bedroom and he administered first aid until the ambulance arrived.” He had not seen the blood at first because the victim had been wearing black clothing, he said. “But when she moved, then I noticed her clothes were wet with blood.”

Adrian Chandler, who worked as a barman in the family-run guesthouse, also testified today. “She was bleeding... there was a lot of blood. She was crying and she was yelling. I could understand that she was more worried about her children than herself.” He described the victim as being “in a panicked rage.” He had then taken the woman from the reception to an upstairs bedroom and did what he could to stem the bleeding while his brother called 112. “She was so worried about her kids,” he recalled.

“I was inside and heard an almighty scream,” Saqqajja shopkeeper Connie Xuereb told the court. She had rushed outside, expecting to see a traffic accident and saw a man chasing after a woman. “He had something in his hand and started shooting. Then I went back inside because I thought a film was being shot there.”

The court heard surgeon Dr. Josef Mifsud who had certified Mrs Cutajar to have been grievously injured and in danger of losing her life give his account. He explained that he had classified her condition as critical because of the chest penetrating wound and its proximity to the heart. Consultant Dr. Jonathan Joslin, who also testified today, told the jury that injuries are classified as grievous if the chest cavity is penetrated.

A&E consultant Dr Konrad Borg testified that the bullet had been lodged in the space between the ribs and the heart. “It had penetrated muscle and the ribcage but stopped just outside the heart.”

The injuries suffered by the accused had been “more of an impact point rather than an entry wound.” The bullet hit a rib but did not have enough force to penetrate.

The jury was also shown footage of what appears to be the accused chasing the victim, gun in hand.

Forensic expert Dr. Martin Bajada exhibited CCTV footage of the incident when the jury reconvened in the afternoon. The grainy footage shows a white car -understood to belong to the accused - parking on a zebra crossing outside the restaurant. After about two minutes a man is seen chasing a woman, pointing something at her. A customer exits the bar and sits down outside apparently not alarmed by the unusual spectacle which had just unfolded before him, calmly pours refills his glass with beer. The car  drives off, approximately one minute after the couple run out of view.


Earlier today, the defence had objected to a surgeon's assessment of the victim's injuries. Dr. Walter Busuttil had reported that she had been suspected of being in danger of losing of life, but defence lawyer Edward Gatt objected Dr. Busuttil''s assessment, pointing out that while Busuttil had reported the victim as having been suspected of being in danger of dying, during the compilation of evidence, court expert Dr. Jonathan Joslin had assessed the wound as not being life-threatening.

Prosecuting lawyer Giannella Busuttil argued that it was “very convenient” to the defence to be able to hide behind this.” Walter Busuttil was the surgeon who had operated on the victim.”I believe there is nobody more competent than Dr. Busuttil to testify as to the extent of the injury,” the prosecution maintained. “It is absolutely not an opinion, it is a state of fact.”


“”Surgeon or no surgeon, he is a witness, not an expert, “ the defence countered.

“I don’t want the prosecution to throw red herrings at the jury and then have to go through the laborious process of explaining them,” argued Gatt. The court decreed that the line of questioning objected to by the defence would be excluded.

The prosecution's star witness, the accused's estranged wife Marija Cutajar, is expected to testify tomorrow before the jury is taken to inspect the scene first hand.

Judge Edwina Grima is presiding. Lawyers Giannella Busuttil and Anthony Vella from the Attorney General's office are prosecuting. Lawyers Edward Gatt and Mark Vassallo are defence counsel.