October-December 2007, issue No. 8, ISSN: 1818-4448, Book Distributors Ltd publishers, Editor Eddie Attard
Theft from churches
Theft from churches is not a rare crime in Malta and in the latest number of Delitti u Misteri (October-December 2007), issue No. 8, police and crime historian Eddie Attard writes in detail about this subject. The leading story is about the theft from the church of the Sacro Cuor in Sliema in 1949, the theft from the church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Valletta, and also the sacrilege committed in the Corradino prison chapel.
The second story deals with the criminal phenomenon of kidnapping. Child kidnapping is one of those crimes that captures our imagination and the eagerness of the media to give full coverage to these awful crimes adds sensationalism. The alleged abduction of three-year-old Madeleine McCann is one of these widely publicised cases. In a long article Attard deals with a list of kidnappings and murder of children.
The popular feature with a mysterious touch is about Wilma Montesi whose body was found on the seashore sands of Ostia, near Rome, on 11 April 1953. The police declared that Wilma had died by accidental drowning. Months later Silvano Muto published a sensational story in his monthly magazine and alleged that the 21-year-old Wilma was murdered. After prolonged investigations Ugo Montagna and Piero Piccioni (son of the vice-prime minister of Italy) were accused with the crime but were absolved from the accusations and the case remains unsolved and a mystery.
This issue also provides a detailed update regarding Delitti f'Malta and the jury in connection with the killing of Stephen Sam Portelli in Paceville in October 2001. Another jury narrated is that of Mikelina Borg who stabbed her ex-lover in 1898.
Strychnine poisoning in humans is another story dealt with in this issue of Delitti u Misteri. Forty-three-year-old Ethel Major was found guilty of murdering her husband in 1934. She was hanged by Tom Pierrepoint at Hull prison on Wednesday, 19 December 1934.
This issue also gives information about the murder of Ernest Dyer, Andrew and Abby Borden, James Smith, and George Metesky, better known as the Mad Bomber. Matesky terrorised New York for 16 years in the 1940s and 1950s with explosives he planted in theatres, libraries and other places. He was found legally insane and committed to State mental hospital.
Delitti u Misteri sells for Lm1.35 / EUR3.14 and can be bought from leading bookshops or directly from the publishers, Book Distributors Ltd, 13 Triq Giorgio Preca, San Gwann, tel. 2138 0351/2.