Andrew Mangion, the police’s prime suspect after the body of his wife was found in a Qormi warehouse last Sunday, is being held at Mount Carmel Hospital until he is fit to continue facing police questioning, sources told The Malta Independent.

Mangion gave himself up to the police on Tuesday, but the interrogation had to be suspended after the police deemed it necessary for him to be given medical and psychiatric assistance.

The questioning will continue only after the medical team assigned to him will determine that he is capable of assisting the police.

In this case, the sources said, the 48-hour period established by law for a person to be taken to court is suspended, and will start afresh once the interrogation resumes.

 

It was initially thought that Mangion would have been arraigned this morning, but these complications have delayed the process, the sources said.

A close friend of Andrew Mangion spoke to this newsroom about the shocking tragedy which unfolded on Saturday. “He is a nice guy and it was a complete surprise. We would have never in a million years expected it.”

Mangion surrendered himself to the police on Tuesday, two days after the body of his wife was discovered in a Qormi warehouse.  

The body of Ms Mangion Walker, 33, a mother of a nine-year-old girl, was found in a plastic bag under a number of wooden pallets, police sources said. The body was found resting against a wall.

It appears Ms Mangion Walker was not killed in the store in the industrial estate in Qormi. The place where she was killed is yet unknown but police have established that she was killed some time between Saturday and Sunday.

The police have found traces of fresh blood in Andrew Mangion’s garage in Swieqi, sources said. However, investigators believe that Ms Mangion Walker was not killed in this garage. 

Sources told this newspaper that the suspect, Andrew Mangion, did not leave the country in the past days and made use of his personal mobile phone.

“Andrew was my friend. It was very shocking for us,” his friend who chose to remain anonymous told this newsroom. “We knew him and he was always at my place, practically every day. I have a small boat; he was supposed to be coming with us on Sunday. I pestered him and he said he needed to carry some pallets – I didn’t know what was going in his head. Nobody would imagine this of him – we especially.

“He didn’t come, obviously, he was meaning to come on a day trip with his daughter. She ended up coming and he didn’t. Something must have gone into his mind there and then which triggered something and he just went ballistic.

“He was a very a nice guy who would do literally anything for a friend. He helped me paint the boat – not even my son helped me – and he borrowed his boss’ jeep to help me put the boat in the sea. He was a very nice guy.

“What happened, happened. He was depressed – I know that he was a depressed person. He used to find it hard to sleep at night. Andrew and his ex have been split up for quite a few years.”

The couple, he said, was living under the same roof, but wasn’t living under normal circumstances. Asked if he ever saw them fighting, he said that he never saw any signs of arguments, and that Andrew never spoke badly of her.

The last time Ms Mangion Walker was seen alive was on Saturday morning as she was leaving the residence of her partner Rikky Pace. The two had been having dinner in Bugibba the night before.

In comments to TMI, the victim’s grieving boyfriend (above, with Ms Mangion Walker) said that he was not called in for questioning by the police but he added that he will help them if they need to ask him any questions. Mr Pace told this newsroom that he feels lost and still can’t believe that all this happened. He said that our thoughts should be with her family and daughter.

The nine-year-old daughter is currently with her next of kin and Appogg as of yet have no reason to initiate any type of care order for her. The CEO of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services, Alfred Grixti said in comments to The Malta Independent said that there is no need for any interference unless the courts give specific directions to do so.

Mr Grixti said that Appogg are monitoring the situation but there have been absolutely no reports as yet to suggest that the girl’s next of kin are not suitable as carers. In the end, her current carers could very well be her legal guardians from now on if the courts decide as such.