Speaking at the trial of 23-year-old Marco Zarb, from Birkirkara, Dr Barbara explained that the accused’s statement, in which he admitted trying to kill his girlfriend, Georgina Borg in Gozo on 24 June 2001, was the most important evidence.

“I grabbed her and started pulling her towards the balcony door, threatening to throw her off. I pushed her, put on my jeans and ran downstairs. When I saw she was still alive I thought, ‘that’s bad luck’, and tried to strangle her. People started gathering and when she opened her eyes I told her not to tell the police what I had done,” the accused had claimed in his statement to police. “I did it because I love her and she was seeing another man,” Mr Zarb had said.

Inspector Antonello Grech testified at yesterday’s sitting how the accused had twisted his version of events before finally admitting the crime. “At around 11.10pm on 24 June 2001 I was informed that a woman had fallen from a height of three storeys in Xwejni, near Marsalforn,” said the inspector.

Ms Borg had been found on the ground after having fallen from a balcony. She was taken to hospital where Inspector Grech said he spoke to the woman’s boyfriend, the accused Marco Zarb. The man said she had gone out on to the balcony to bring in some clothes and the next thing he knew, she was on the ground below.

The inspector told the court that a visit to the scene of the incident and the flat in which the couple had been staying showed discrepancies in Mr Zarb’s story. “There were no clothes out on the balcony, except a pair of boxer shorts,” said Inspector Grech. He explained that the couple’s clothes had been packed in various bags, ready for them to come back to Malta.

Inspector Grech said the victim’s mother, who had been in a bar under the flat in question at the time of the incident, told him the couple had had an argument.

The inspector arrested Mr Zarb, who claimed that his girlfriend was being treated for depression. “I did not push her,” he had said, “You can ask her.” On the journey to Malta on the ferry, Mr Zarb said he and Ms Borg had argued because she had gone out with another man.

When he was questioned at police headquarters in Malta, Mr Zarb admitted pushing Ms Borg off the balcony. “She landed on her back,” he said. Inspector Grech explained the accused had then tried to strangle her.

In his statement, Mr Zarb had said he and the victim had been together for four months when the incident occurred, although they had known each other for four years. She had an eight-month-old baby, but Mr Zarb was not the baby’s father.

“We were together in the Qbajjar flat that night when I wanted to have sex with her, but she resisted,” Mr Zarb had said. This was when she had said she did not love him and wanted to be with another man named Simon, the accused had claimed.

Mr Zarb said he continued to force himself on her, but she still refused to give in. She walked out of the room and he grabbed her and pulled her towards the balcony door. He said he then threw her off and went down to strangle her when he noticed she was still alive.

“I told her to cover for me with the police,” he said in his statement. “I wanted to run away to Malta, but too many people had gathered around, so I climbed into the ambulance. This was when I started to feel sorry for what I had done,” he claimed.

The accused had told the police that the arguments had started two days earlier when Ms Borg was receiving phone calls from a man named Simon. On the Saturday, Ms Borg allegedly told him she wanted to break up with him when they returned to Malta.

Mr Zarb had said the victim had told him she should jump off the balcony. The accused claimed she had said: “I want to die to be free.”

On the Sunday she went out with Simon and when he asked why she was cheating on him so openly, Mr Zarb said she told him, “You deserve it because you love me too much.”

“My mind was telling me to kill her,” the accused said in his statement. “I was going to stab her, but decided I did not want to see any blood. I tried to strangle her before throwing her off the balcony, but she noticed and I just told her I loved her,” he said.

After admitting the crime to the police, the accused allegedly said: “I feel relieved and am very sorry.” He added that he wanted Ms Borg to forgive him for what he had done.

At yesterday’s sitting, prosecuting officer Anthony Barbara said that this statement, which was read in court, was the strongest piece of evidence. “Can you really believe Ms Borg jumped off the balcony herself and Mr Zarb fabricated the story of his trying to kill her?” he asked the jurors.

The trial continues today, when more witnesses will be called to the stand in an attempt at uncovering the truth. Senior Counsel to the Republic Dr Anthony Barbara is prosecuting while Dr Chris Cardona and Dr Chris Soler are appearing for the accused.