A man and a woman accused of murder yesterday told a panel of jurors that they had tried their utmost to save the life of Rachel Bowdler after she had taken an overdose of heroin.

Carmel and Connie Decelis, both 57, took the witness stand during their trial. The two, along with their 29-year-old son Jason, are being accused of the murder of 18-year-old Rachel Bowdler, who they dumped in a field in Mgarr on 13 May 2001 after the girl had taken an overdose of heroin and died in their sitting room.

The Decelis family is being accused of murder since none of them, the Attorney General is claiming, called an ambulance to assist Ms Bowdler in the last few moments of her life.

Mr and Mrs Decelis took the witness stand in their defence yesterday but their son Jason chose to use his right not to testify.

Mr Decelis was the first to take the stand to tell jurors his version of what happened on the night Ms Bowdler lost her life. “We did all we could to help her and we did not do anything to kill her or put her life in danger. I would not even kill a rabbit let alone a young woman. We did all we could,” he said.

He said he was in St Julian’s when his son called him and, sounding worried, told him to go to his mother’s apartment as soon as he could. He said that at first he thought that his son had beaten up his mother, as it was not the first time he lost control of his actions after taking drugs.

“When I walked into the flat, I saw a young woman lying on the sofa and frothing at the mouth. Jason was crying and said that he had not given her anything and did not know what had happened to her. I believe my son that he had not given her anything,” he said.

Mr Decelis added that he started to wet her face, neck and chest hoping that she would regain consciousness because his son had had such an experience in the past and that was what he used to do to him to help him.

Pausing every now and then because he was crying, Mr Decelis said that he had no idea how bad her health condition was. He said he was constantly hoping that Rachel would regain consciousness at the flat rather than having to take her to hospital with all the complications this would have brought about.

“I didn’t know how serious the situation was. If I didn’t care, I would not have sat next to her wetting her face. There was no time to phone for an ambulance. We were hoping that she would come back to her senses in the apartment and not at hospital. I was scared that Jason would turn violent or commit suicide and I wanted to make sure that there would be no reason to go to the police,” he said.

He said that early on Sunday morning, the day Ms Bowdler died, he called his wife to see how the girl was and when he went to the Bugibba apartment, he noticed that her condition had worsened during the night.

“She was breathing at a slower rate and not salivating as much. I started wetting her face again and soon after I noticed that she had stopped breathing. My wife had left for work and Jason and I started panicking. Jason started crying and I told him to call his mother and tell her to come back. I sat on the sofa and started crying. I was very sorry for what had happened. I tried all I could to bring her back to her senses,” he said.

Mr Decelis continued that around 15 minutes later, they took Ms Bowdler out of the apartment. “Jason and I carried her down the stairs. He placed her in the back seat of my car and I drove to a place indicated to me by my son, who then carried her out of the car. On our way back, my wife stopped to call the ambulance,” he said.

During her testimony, Mrs Decelis said that she had no weight on her conscience because she had done all she could to help Ms Bowdler in the last few moments of her life.

“I have nothing weighing on my conscience. I did all I could to save her and help her. My son was in similar situations and I never called an ambulance but dealt with him myself. I had nothing to hide and it’s not a matter of not wanting my son to get into trouble. He did not give her any drugs,” Mrs Decelis said.

She continued: “I had never seen Rachel before 12 May. That day I arrived home at about 10.30pm and my son told me: “look what happened”. He said he did not give her any drugs and said that most probably she had taken drugs and then lost consciousness while they were watching television.”

She said her son Jason also had a problem with drugs and he was in a similar situation three or four times before, so she knew what it meant. “I did not feel that there was the need to call for an ambulance because when the same thing happened to my son, I never called doctors or ambulances. If I knew that she was going to die, that would have been another thing. I treated her like my daughter and I spent all the night with her,” she said.

“While I was with her, she looked like she was in a deep sleep like when someone is drunk. I did not leave her alone for a moment. I had no intention to kill Rachel. I would do my best to help anyone, even an animal. I did my utmost to help her. I did whatever I did with my son when he had the same problem. I never had the slightest intention to kill Rachel or that she dies. I did all I could to help her. I did not see the need to involve the authorities. She was breathing heavily and was dribbling. It was as though she was in a deep sleep,” she said.

Mrs Decelis said that on Sunday 13 May 2001 in the morning, after she had gone to work and returned, Rachel stopped breathing and that was when she began to panic. “I did not want her in my flat so we decided to take her somewhere but I called the ambulance soon after. I remember speaking to a woman and telling her about Rachel,” she said.

Later on during yesterday’s proceedings, the defence lawyers representing the three accused addressed the jury. They insisted that there were not enough elements to prove that they were guilty of murdering Ms Bowdler or of, in any way, causing her death.

The trial continues today when Assistant Attorney General Anthony Barbara, who is prosecuting, will address the panel of jurors. Defence lawyers will then replicate followed by Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono’s address to the jurors before they retire to deliberate.