Updated | Murder investigations suspended, mother was stabbed in neck and chest

The police’s investigations into a Togolese man over his suspected involvement in the brutal murder of a 41-year-old woman on Friday have been suspended, the police said.

In a statement, the police said investigations had been suspended because of the accused’s mental health, and that he is being given the necessary medical care.

Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, who is leading the inquiry into the murder, has been informed, the police said.

The main suspect in the murder – identified as a 33-year-old Togolese man – is being held by police after he was arrested earlier on Saturday in Sliema, just hours after police discovered the lifeless body of Caroline Magri.

The man is reportedly denying any involvement in the killing, but is expected to be arraigned by police, sources said.

Magri, the mother of eight whose body was found in an apartment in Ta’ Giorni on Friday, suffered fatal blows to the neck and chest, autopsy results showed.

A police source told MaltaToday that woman was found with a slashed throat and multiple stab wounds after a man she lived with made the gruesome discovery.

The murder scene was described by police as being a macabre one.

Eyewitnesses told MaltaToday on Friday that the woman’s anguished daughter was seen emerging from the house, after the unknown assailant left the building. Magri’s daughter was heard screaming, “my mother has been killed”, witnesses said.

Just over a month ago, Magri was arraigned in court after a fight broke out in a Floriana apartment.

She had been arraigned along with a 33-year-old man from Togo, identified as Djibril Ganiou who was described as her partner. The two were accused of grievous bodily harm and assault on two men who lived in a Floriana apartment.

Magri had also been accused of breaching several court sentences.

Court reports dating back to 2015 show that Ganiou had been investigated by the police over domestic violence, with the man then being accused of resisting police arrest by running away and spitting at the police.

In September 2015, the Togolese national was initially arrested after his Maltese partner, Grima, sought police help because she was being threatened. Media reports of the court sitting recount how the woman appeared in court with a black eye.

The charges of domestic violence were dropped after Magri told the court that she had forgiven the accused and was dropping the changes against him – reforms to the domestic violence legislation will now ensure that, even if a victim ‘forgives’ the perpetrator, the police cannot drop their case in court.