DR PAUL CHETCUTI CARUANA is a general practitioner and the present mayor of Mosta. In 1977, he was one of the Malta Labour Party’s most passionate spokesmen in Parliament, who was then investigated in one of the most mysterious tragedies to have taken place in Malta ? the killing of Karin Grech. At the time, he was one of the doctors working at St Luke’s Hospital, along with Karin’s father Edwin Grech, and was also responsible for recruiting doctors during the doctors’ general strike. He speaks to Carla Gatt about the bitter aftertaste left by the tragedy and the humiliation he endured when he was investigated.

How many doctors were working at St Luke’s at the time?

There were around six doctors. Edwin Grech, who had been working abroad and had returned to Malta after being asked to do so, was one of the most prominent specialists because he was in charge of the gynaecology department. I was leading the other doctors in St Luke’s at the time and I was under the spotlight because of my close friendship with Mintoff, as well as being a Labour MP.

Dr Grech had been told not to come to Malta because he wasn’t wanted here. Some doctors had said to him: “Don’t forget you have children.” At the time we were calling doctors in Czechoslovakia, Tunisia and Pakistan to bring their medical teams here because of the doctors’ strike regarding the houseman law.

The houseman law, now known as the Foundation House Officer Law, states that those who have just qualified in medicine have to undertake a two-year, general postgraduate medical training programme at the hospital in which they practiced when they were students. In 1987, when the Nationalists were elected, they left this law there, and it still stands to this present day.

The main reason why you were one of the suspects was that you had also received a parcel-bomb, but yours did not explode. What do you remember of that day when you were unwrapping the parcel?

It was a semtex bomb made to go off as soon as the lid was lifted. Semtex is a plastic explosive that does not require much electronic expertise to put together. I remember that it was a sunny day and that the parcel had a palm print on it. The same palm print was later confirmed to be the same as the one on the Grech’s parcel. I suspect that whoever was carrying it must have held on to it very tightly for fear the lid would come off.

When Scotland Yard and the Italian Guardie came to inspect the bomb, they both said that the terminals were rusty, which prevented contact with the plastic.

The parcel had arrived at around 11.45am and I opened it very slowly. I immediately realised that it was a bomb and when I told my family they thought I was losing my mind, especially my father, who knew I had always been very interested in the secret service and military paraphernalia. It shouldn’t have surprised me that I could be regarded as a suspect and investigated.

I remember that when I called the Police Depot to tell them about the bomb, the person at the other end of the line told me that Edwin Grech’s daughter had died and that they were calling all the doctors to inform them about it. I was quite taken aback that they hadn’t called me. As soon as I put the receiver down, I ran across the road to the house of Dr Abram Galea, who told me that they had already called him. It was then that I realised there was something fishy.

Three days before the tragedy occurred, I started receiving anonymous telephone calls at home. Once when my wife answered one of these calls she heard requiem chants in the background. She had turned round and in a panic-stricken tone pleaded with me not only to quit Parliament but to keep my mouth shut about political matters.

I could not believe that publicly expressing my party’s principles would have such tragic consequences, simply because this was all about the doctors’ strike.

When did you realise that you were being accused of killing Karin Grech?

During Karin’s memorial service, Archbishop Michael Gonzi had burst into tears and said that this was the very first terrorist act to have taken place in Malta.

I remember Superintendent Paul Mamo telling me not to visit Edwin Grech and I could not understand why. I then realised that people were already inferring that I had done it.

After receiving Karin’s autopsy report, Pearl Grech (Edwin Grech’s wife and Karin’s mother), started visiting doctors’s wife and, with the report in her hand, asked them if they had done this to her daughter. Mrs German told her to ask “that mad man from Mosta Dr Chetcuti Caruana”. She told her to ask me because my bomb didn’t explode.

Edwin Grech called me at 1am saying that Pearl wanted to talk to me. I arrived there at 1.30 and as soon as Pearl saw me she asked, “Did you kill my daughter?” Edwin then explained what Pearl had done after she received the report on Karin’s autopsy. I was angry and upset. I returned home and was so distressed that I cried for two hours.

I was ready to press charges against those who were spreading lies about me but my then lawyer, MP Joe Brincat, dissuaded me. He said it would give rise to further gossip and would implicate me in the case even further.

The address on the parcel the Grechs received was incorrect and the stamp was on the left-hand side of the parcel. The authorities, in the presence of Scotland Yard superintendents, tried to put words into my wife’s mouth by repeatedly questioning her about how I normally stamp my envelopes.

I understood that I had to be investigated because I had received a bomb and my clinic was a crime scene as well. My fingerprints were taken and analysed, which was quite unpleasant for me and for my father, who was present when the authorities arrived.

In 1991 I had gone knocking on Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami’s door. I was outraged and I warned him not to have me framed for Karin Grech’s death.

I was beside myself with anger when Scotland Yard detectives, a man and a woman called on me in 1995. I told them everything I knew related to the case. I remember the man telling me that this was a political crime and that those involved were leading politicians.

Did you ever have any suspects in mind?

I believe that these bombs were sent to scare Mintoff. Edwin Grech and I were small fry compared to him. It was Mintoff’s radical social reforms and his stand on Malta’s neutrality that landed the government in hot water with other countries.

Some Maltese doctors based in London used to frequent an Irish pub and I have information that most of them were closely connected to the IRA. In fact, the IRA used semtex at the time.

I believe that the Maltese authorities have an idea who the person or persons involved were.

What are your thoughts 30 years later?

Mintoff’s government was undermined in that period. There were a lot of plots against him because he was a social benefactor and implemented a lot of reforms in favour of the working class.

One of my biggest queries is why Malta’s heavyweight journalists never asked questions or presented a programme on this hot subject, which is more controversial than what we actually see on Xarabank, Bondiplus, and what we read in MaltaToday.

The truth must be told. We have to find out who killed Karin. I want to find out because I was one of the main suspects and this has led me to empathise with people like Peter Paul Busuttil and Madeline Mc Cann’s parents – people accused of committing crimes without evidence being produced.