The compilation of evidence against Joseph Grech and his son Kurt, who stand charged with the murder of Brandon Pace, began yesterday.

Magistrate Aaron Bugeja heard how the argument between the victim and the accused actually involved a total of five people. Inspector Keith Arnaud took the witness stand in the afternoon and relayed how the victim’s mother, Lisa Pace, said that she saw Joseph Grech deliver the final stab into her son’s back.

The incident surrounds a dispute related to the Kurt Grech’s son. Kurt Grech has a six-year-old child with Jessica Bilocca, whose boyfriend was Brandon Pace. There had been longstanding tension between the families of Ms Bilocca and the accused due to the constant need to communicate on matters related to the child.

Inspector Arnaud said the six people involved in the fight were both the accused – Joseph and Kurt Grech, Joseph’s wife, Brandon Pace (the victim), the mother of the victim and Jessica Bilocca. The victim’s sister arrived after the fight had already started.

A dispute over who the child had been left with earlier led to harsh words being exchanged between Ms Bilocca and the accused’s mother. The child was inside the apartment when the fight outside took place. Due to the heated exchange, Kurt Grech told the inspector that he drove to the victim’s residence to speak with Ms Billocca and settle the argument.  

His parents however, in a separate car, drove to the residence of Ms Bilocca at roughly the same time as their son.

From multiple statements made to the police, Inspector Arnaud said that after the Grech family arrived and started shouting towards the apartment of the Pace family, Ms Bilocca, Mrs Pace and the victim went out onto the balcony and began throwing tiles (madum) at them.

The victim’s mother first went downstairs outside the apartment block, and instructed the victim not to come down in order to avoid making the situation worse.

It was alleged that the victim came down, wielding a knife to allegedly protect himself. Kurt Grech admitted to arriving on the scene with two knives. He told inspector Arnaud in a statement that he had brought the knives with him to protect himself, because he was aware of what the victim was capable of. He also alleged to the inspector that he was not even aware that the victim was inside the apartment when he arrived.

The Grech family contended that when Brandon came out of the apartment block he went directly for Kurt, which is the father, Joseph Grech had gotten involved.

The victim’s mother claimed that towards the end of the fight, she witnessed Joseph Grech taking one final stab at her son from behind.

Following the brawl, Ms Bilocca, Kurt Grech and his mother all ended up at Mater Dei hospital for treatment. Kurt Grech had to be treated for a stab wound to the chest, Ms Bilacca had been stabbed in the leg while Kurt’s mother had to be treated for shock.

Lawyers Roberto Montalto and Noel Bianco represented the accused.