Man accused of killing wife sent to seclusion area to protect him from self-harm

The psychiatrist who examined Andrew Mangion, the prime suspect in the murder of his wife Eleanor Mangion Walker, told the court yesterday that the accused appeared willing to harm himself.

Psychiatrist Joe Vella Baldacchino, who was called to testify, had examined the accused and suggested that Mr Mangion should be sent to a seclusion unit as he feared the latter would try and harm himself. “He looked very sad, worried and crying,” he told Magistrate Doreen Clarke as he testified.

The body of Eleanor Mangion Walker was found hidden in a warehouse in Qormi in July last year. Andrew Mangion stands charged with murder and evidence suggests that the victim was killed in a Swieqi garage, after which the body was dumped in the Qormi warehouse.

Dr Vella Baldacchino was the psychiatrist on police duty when he was approached to examine Mr Mangion. Called to testify, the psychiatrist said that the accused was particularly worried about his daughters as he did not know where they were.

He then visited the accused six days after being admitted to the seclusion area at Mount Carmel hospital. Mangion had stopped taking the medication and, as Dr Vella Baldacchino explained, the man looked “composed and much better”.

At this point, the psychiatrist saw that the accused was mentally fit to be interrogated. Mr Mangion accepted.

In yesterday’s compilation of evidence, it also emerged that the police had conducted a search in three different houses in different localities. A police officer explained that the search in these houses had to be conducted as the accused had a set of keys by which he could access these properties.

When the prosecution asked the officer to clarify, the witness said that Mangion was conducting maintenance work in these houses and therefore had a set of keys for himself.

Inspectors Kylie Borg and Keith Arnaud are leading the prosecution with lawyers Michael and Lucio Sciriha appearing as parte civile for the deceased’s successors. The accused’s defence counsel is led by Joe Giglio.

The case resumes on 13 February.