The compilation of evidence against Erin Tanti, who stands accused of the murder of 15-year-old Lisa Maria Zahra, continued this morning where it emerged that that Tanti had purchased three boxes of medicine from a pharmacy on the eve of Lisa Maria's alleged assisted suicide.

Tanti is being accused of murdering the underage girl, assisting her suicide, defiling her, being in possession of indecent images of the teenager and abusing his position of trust as her drama teacher. Tanti appeared in court assisted by his father and a nurse. Some members of the Zahra family stood outside the court room throughout the sitting while others stayed inside.

Zahra was found dead at the bottom of Dingli Cliffs on 19 March. Mr Tanti was found some metres away, dazed but slightly injured. He told police officers that the two had fallen from the cliff.

The first to take the witness stand was Tanya Mercieca, Lisa Maria's cousin, followed by the victim's brother, Nicky Zahra. Mrs Mercieca was seen in tears through the rest of the sitting after having given her testimony. She was comforted by Lisa Maria's father. There was some disturbance just before the sitting as soon as Lisa Maria's father spotted Tanti walking into the court room but the situation was immediately calmed down.

The court heard how a car was spotted parked outside the house where Lisa Maria lived and her brother had asked the handyman, who took care of his father's house, to view the CCTV footage which showed that a person was going in and out of the house. It is understood that when Tony Zahra (Lisa's father) was in Dubai on work, Lisa Maria would either stay at home with the housekeeper or would stay at her grandmother's house.

This time around she was staying at home. It was the handyman who had alerted the victim's brother on the goings on.

"I got to know it was Erin Tanti and ran a quick Google search to find out more about the person. I came across a play and realised he was involved in Masquerade (theatre company), same as my sister. I spotted an advert of a play of Erin and I got very concerned," the victim's brother said.

Nicky Zahra did not elaborate on what the play was about.

And this is when Nicky Zahra informed his father, who was abroad at the time. I drove towards my father's house and there was Lisa, sitting in her room quietly.

"My father called and he told me to lodge a report to the police that a 23-year-old was with a minor." Lisa Maria was only fifteen years old. "My father was to cut his visit short to come back to Malta."

The victim's brother said that he asked his sister to come sleep at his home in Manikata but she adamantly refused, something he saw strange since she always enjoyed going to his house for a sleep over.

"I didn't tell my sister I filed a report; my father instructed me to tell Mark, the handy man to take Lisa's mobile away but when he did, there was a commotion," he said.

"Lucy, my aunt, came home to stay with her so after my sister had calmed down, I left but told aunty Lucy that I would return the next morning.

"The next day I went back to the house, early in the morning, as planned. Lucy had just left slightly before I arrived. At about 7am, the housekeeper came to tell me that Lisa was not in her bedroom.

"I went to Ibrag where Erin lived but to no avail," he said.

‘I hadn’t told my father I filed a missing persons report hoping my sister would have returned by the time he arrived’, victim’s brother says

 

The next thing he knew, Nicky Zahra was filing a missing persons report since Lisa Maria hadn't turned up home. "I did not tell my father I had done so, hoping that my sister would have returned home by the time my father returned to Malta," Mr Zahra said.

"When police came to the house, I handed them a letter I found on Lisa Maria's bed," he added.

Mrs Mercieca meanwhile said that the day before they found Lisa Maria at Dingli Cliffs she insisted she wanted to stay home and refused to sleep over at her brother, Nicky. "I asked her if she was fine; she kept insisting she was and this is when we called aunty Lucy to come stay with her since it is her she wanted around."

She said that they are a very close family.