BERNARD BUSUTTIL

The man accused of killing his neighbour took the witness stand during yesterday’s hearing.

The accused, Raymond Camilleri, 43, from Zurrieq, was charged with killing Christopher Camilleri, 24, from Zejtun, as well as illegitimately using a firearm during a crime on 6 October 1999.

Mr Camilleri testified that he knew the victim before he moved in with his girlfriend, in his street, as they used to work together and after an incident in which he failed to hand some tools to the accused (who he worked with), he was fired.

The accused, who worked as a driver within the public works division and is a part-time greengrocer, said cars which were parked near his garage ramp could obstruct the way for him to drive his truck in and out of the garage. He denied ever asking neighbours to refrain from parking in front of his house.

He said he once asked the victim, in a polite manner, to park a bit further away, however, he shouted at him “do not give me instructions on how to park.” He said this problem protracted to another episode where he could not drive his truck, a double wheeler, out of his garage, and he asked him once again not to park his car there. Mr Camilleri said he used to drive his car out of his garage around 4am and he did not want to wake up the victim at such an unearthly hour. However, when he asked him once more, the victim threatened him with his life. The accused testified that once he did not go to sell his wares as the victim’s car was blocking the way and he did not want to get into trouble.

Once, a few months prior to the incident, the man had his hand in a plaster cast and was pushing his car and as he tried helping him, in a harsh tone, Christopher Camilleri told him that he could do the job alone.

The witness said he never reported the man to the police as he disliked getting into trouble.

He said he knew the victim’s partner, Carmen Portelli Bouvet, as she sometimes did go to their home and once used their phone. He said that sometimes she did not have enough money and he insisted in giving her free fruit and vegetables out of respect for her children

On 6 October 1999, he had just returned from his full-time job as a driver within the Public Works Department as his supervisor sent him home because he looked tired.

He found the victim’s car parked in front of his house, and had to choose whether to park before, after it or across the street. He decided to park behind him and after reversing, onto a heap of stones and after putting the car in first gear, his foot slipped from the clutch pedal and the van bumped into the victim’s car.

Suddenly he heard the victim shouting from the balcony of his apartment asking him why he tried to push his car. The accused said he tried going home as he was afraid of the man who was shouting and swearing. He denied he did it on purpose as the victim threatened to set his car on fire. The accused suggested calling the police in order to clear the matter but as soon as the victim heard the word ‘police’ mentioned, he started throwing kicks at him without succeeding in hitting him. However, the accused was hit in the face by a punch thrown by the victim, he fell down backwards and hit his head against his garage door. At that point, said the accused, he decided to get into his garage in earnest as he was afraid of him, given that he used to see him carrying a knife.

He said he could not close the garage door as the victim was too close, and rushed inside and rushed to get his gun in order to protect himself and his family.

He grabbed the gun and loaded it with two cartridges. As it was dark and his greengrocer truck had its canvas tent extended, he could not see where the victim was.

As soon as he tried closing the garage door, he saw Chris coming towards him and fired the first shot out of fright.

The prosecutor confronted him with his own testimony that he went out, to confront him. He answered that this meant to check whether he was going to get into the garage, which was connected to the house without any doors to separate them.

Mr Camilleri said at that moment he saw red and fired the second shot. During the interval between the two shots he took a couple of steps forward while the victim was retreating.

Asked whether he was aware that he hit the victim, the accused said that it was dark outside and could not see clearly. He said he was not sure whether he hit him with the first shot, while on the second shot he saw him recline to one side. At that moment he realised that he hit him and froze. When he came back to his senses, he put back his gun, talked to his wife who had just got out of their bedroom and told her he shot at the victim.

Mr Camilleri said he hugged his wife and child and told her he was going to shoot at himself or drive his car down a cliff. She convinced him to turn himself in.

Prosecutor Arthur Azzopardi asked Mr Camilleri why did he not park across the road where there was ample parking space, to which he replied that he did not think about such an option. The prosecutor also challenged the man’s version that he reversed on a heap of stones and insisted that he bumped into a couple of large tanks.

Dr Azzopardi insisted on asking the accused whether he was annoyed at people parking in front of his house. However, the man answered that he just did not want to hit anybody’s car.

The prosecutor delved deep into the lapse of time the accused spent in his garage from after he was hit to when he fired at the victim. The accused said he had two knives in his parked truck; however, he went straight to find his gun. The prosecutor suggested that he did so in order to shoot and kill the victim, while the accused insisted that he was afraid of him and only wanted to protect himself and his family.

After Mr Camilleri finished testifying, defence counsel Emanuel Mallia started addressing the jury. He illustrated the four defensive lines the defence was sticking to.

These were that the accused fired in self-defence as he was defending himself from Christopher Camilleri’s aggression. He insisted that accused should not be found guilty of involuntary homicide but at the most of causing grievous bodily harm followed by death.

Dr Mallia insisted that the prosecution failed to prove that Mr Camilleri’s had the intention of committing a murder.

Assistant Attorney General Arthur Azzopardi led the prosecution while Dr Emanuel Mallia and Dr Giannella Caruana Curran appeared for the accused. Dr Owen Bonnici appeared parte civile for the victim’s family.