Life sentence for murder of Gozo lawyer Michael Grech confirmed on appeal

The Court of Criminal Appeal has confirmed a 2013 sentence of life imprisonment imposed on David Zerafa, aka ‘il-Pixka’, for the callous murder of Gozitan lawyer Dr Michael Grech in 2004.

Grech had been legally representing Zerafa’s estranged wife during the couple’s separation proceedings, before being shot in the lung and then bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat on 24 May 2004, outside his residence in St Mary’s Street, Marsalforn.

A year later, two inmates, Steve Spiteri and Rodney Vella, gave police details about the murder that they claimed to have heard from Zerafa himself.

During Zerafa's trial in 2013, forensic experts had confirmed the use of a firearm and a heavy object in the murder. The autopsy had revealed that Grech was shot on the left side of his neck, but was killed through blunt force trauma compatible with a blow from a baseball bet.

The night of the murder was described by all witnesses as being a windy and stormy night – so noisy that Grech’s family had not heard the lawyer park his car in the garage.

The accused ahd boasted to fellow inmates Rodney Vella and Steve Spiteri how he and an accomplice had donned boiler suits, balaclavas and gloves before waiting for their victim at the top of a third-floor staircase. This was corroborated by other witnesses who claimed to have seen two hooded men wearing boiler suits in St Mary Street on the same night.

The hooded men were later seen picking documents from the street and carrying a long object wrapped in cloth.

Albeit grievously injured, and with a bullet in his lung, Dr Grech had attempted to flee the scene. While serving time inside St Luke’s Hospital’s St Michael’s Ward, Zerafa had told Vella that he had missed when he shot Grech.

The jury had also heard how David Zerafa had told Steve Spiteri that after being shot, the victim had run into Triq ix-Xtut, a dead-end street. When his assasins caught up with him, the lawyer had told Zerafa that he recognised him. Dr Grech was beaten unconscious before he was dragged to a nearby construction site.

Forensic experts and pathologists explained to the jurors that abrasions on the chest of the deceased proved that the man had been dragged, face down, into the garage construction site, where his skull was then crushed.

Zerafa was declared guilty by 8 votes to 1, the court exercising its discretion in imposing the maximum punishment.

Zerafa had filed an appeal against his sentence in July 2013 arguing, amongst other things, that his right to a fair trial had been breached by “a number of mistakes and procedural irregularities”. There had been insufficient evidence for the jury to find him guilty, he said, adding that the judge had misguided the jury in his explanation of how jurors were to treat hearsay evidence. The punishment he had received was “excessive”, he had also claimed.

But in a judgement handed down yesterday, the Court of Criminal Appeal, presided by Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, Mr. Justice David Scicluna and Mr. Justice Joseph Zammit McKeon, rejected these arguments.

In closing, the court quoted the relevant section of the criminal code and explained that it was evident “that the decision of whether or not to impose a punishment less than life imprisonment where the jury vote is not unanimous is at the discretion of the Court.

“In this case, the Court had been clear in its reasoning behind the infliction of the maximum punishment: premeditation, motive, the determination and the cruelty shown as well as the colourful criminal record of the appellant.

“This Court is, without any doubt, disturbed by the gravity of this case which is a symptom of the exaggerated violence that sometimes viscerally disrupts the public order and the tranquillity of our country. When such cases occur, the person responsible must be made to answer for his deeds with a punishment that is fittingly harsh.”