Charlot Zahra
A 40-year-old prisoner from Zejtun, who is already serving time in connection with another murder, was charged in court yesterday with the murder of a 54-year-old woman at her residence in Triq il-Hlantu, Hal Safi, more than 20 years ago.
Salvatore sive Silvio Mangion was accused that on the evening of 8 February 1984, he inflicted various blows with a sharp, pointed instrument on Rozina Zammit with the intention of putting her life of in danger and killed her.
Zammit was found in her bedroom the following morning at around 9.45 with a stab wound on her neck and around 10 blows in her chest and abdomen.
The accused was also charged that on the same day and time, he stole more than Lm100 but less than Lm1,000 in cash from her residence and then killed her.
Moreover, Mangion was also charged with possession of a weapon while committing a crime against the person, and holding the victim against her will.
He pleaded not guilty. Asked to justify the arrest, the prosecution said the police had a “clear confession” by the accused.
The defence requested bail for the accused, which the prosecution objected to, saying that the accused had already committed a similar crime and one could not exclude that he could abscond.
The presiding magistrate Dr Lawrence Quintano denied the request for bail, and remanded the accused in custody. In its ruling, the court said it could not rule out neither the possibility of a repetition of the crime nor that he would escape.
Assistant Commissioner Emanuel Cassar and Police Inspector Peter Paul Zammit prosecuted, while Dr Renzo Porsello Flores assisted the accused.
Dr Franco Debono and Dr Charmaine Cherrett appeared as parte civile for the victim’s relatives.
On 7 January of last year, Mangion was sentenced to 21 years in prison by the Criminal Court after he admitted killing a 75-year-old man and grievously injuring his 71-year-old wife in order to steal from them almost six years ago.
The Criminal Court, presided by Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, had ordered the reduction of the time the accused spent in preventive custody to be deducted from the prison sentence.
Two days earlier, at the beginning of the trial, Mangion had admitted to the wilful homicide of Francesco Saverio Cassar in the victim’s house at Triq Xejba, Zejtun, on 16 August 1998 at around 4 pm and the attempted murder of Giuseppa Cassar, as well as attempting to steal from the couple’s house while under the influence of alcohol and pills.