Woman killed in shooting at Kordin, police say husband is main suspect

A woman was killed in a shooting incident in Kordin yesterday at around 8am, on a road close to MCAST.

The woman, Bernice Cassar, was a 40-year-old mother of two who resided in Zebbug.

Police Commissioner Angelo Gafa, delivering a crime conference at 7pm yesterday, said that her husband is the prime suspect.

At 8am yesterday morning the police received a call indicating that there was a road accident in the zone around Kordin and that a gun might have been used as shots were heard, he said.

The police went on site and found a woman on the ground on the side of a white Nissan Qashqai. She was later identified as Bernice Cassar.

Her body was eventually taken away in a police hearse. A medical team had certified the woman dead on site.

Relatives of the woman who arrived on the scene, including the victim’s mother, were held back by investigators.

The police mounted a search for the suspect who sped off after the shooting.

Gafa said that three shots were fired, and two of them hit Bernice Cassar, one in the face and one in the chest. The weapon used is believed to be a shotgun, he said.

“No words can give comfort to the members of the family,” Gafa said.

The police eventually surrounded the suspect’s home in Qrendi at 9.20am. Commissioner Gafa said that the police had been negotiating with the suspect inside, who the police still believed was in possession of the weapon.

By the time this newspaper went to print, the suspect was not yet arrested.

While Gafa did not name Bernice Cassar’s husband, news reports read that the man is called Roderick Cassar.

The case, the commissioner said, is being treated as a homicide/femicide.

The commissioner said that starting from May of this year, Bernice Cassar had filed five domestic violence reports, with the last one being filed on Monday. The Commissioner said that there was one report where she suffered slight injuries and the others dealt with psychological violence.

He said that these cases were scheduled for the coming November by the court, but in July the Magistrate who presided over the domestic violence case, upon request from the victim’s lawyer, held a court sitting and issued a protection order in favour of the victim. On the last reports received, he said, the alleged breach of the protection order was also being investigated.

He also clarified that Bernice Cassar was receiving emotional support from the Victims Support Agency after filing these reports.

The commissioner expressed his sadness as he said that out of all sectors, the police force have given a lot more support to tackle domestic violence cases. Over the last few years the police force established a dedicated domestic violence unit, he said.

Gafa praised his police force for the hard work and change in mentality that the police have undertaken to address domestic violence cases.

He pledged that the police will continue to support the family in any way they can and the police will continue to do the work they have been doing to combat domestic violence.

“Cases like this show that however much we work, it is never enough,” he said.

When asked by media about the claims that the main suspect beat up Cassar before shooting her, Gafa did not comment. He also did not comment when asked what the main suspect was asking for during negotiations.

Setting up of an inquiry

Minister for Home Affairs Byron Camilleri had described the murder as being a case of “femicide”.

Camilleri expressed his sadness for such a horrible crime and expressed his condolences to the victim’s family. He indicated that the police offered some form of “assistance” to the victim, but he did not elaborate on this point.

He and Justice Minister Jonathan Attard have agreed to appoint retired judge Geoffrey Valencia to lead an inquiry to establish what had happened in terms of every entity that had any role in this whole process (regarding the domestic violence reports etc.), and to see whether there were any shortcomings and if there were, from whom.

He said that domestic violence is an ugly plague.

In a statement earlier in the day, the Nationalist Party asked who will take responsibility for a system that failed a woman who ended up being killed.

It is clear that laws on their own are not enough, the PN said. It added that the government has yet to understand that the country has a social crisis. Its only interest is to pass a sweet message that all is in order, the PN said. “This is the attitude of an arrogant government. The inquiry that has been set up must establish what shortcomings must be addressed to avoid similar tragedies.”

In Parliament, PN MPs commented on the inefficiency of the courts because only one magistrate is assigned to deal with domestic violence cases. Karol Aquilina also mentioned how there are currently 1,429 pending cases.

The PN proposed that the government assigns at least one of the two additional magistrates who will be appointed to the judiciary in the coming days, to work on these cases.

Asked about the possible appointment of another magistrate to deal with such cases, Justice Minister Attard told The Malta Independent that the government intends to appoint two new magistrates to the bench, but the assignment of members of the judiciary is at the discretion of the Chief Justice. However, he said that the Chief Justice had said that if a new magistrate is appointed, the magistrate will be assigned domestic violence cases.

Right now, the minister said, the process to appoint two new judges is underway, following which the process to appoint two new magistrates will begin. The reason for this, is in case any current magistrates apply for the post of judges, in which case the call for magistrates will be expanded if any become judges, he said.

Earlier this year, following the murder of Paulina Dembska in Sliema, a new law was introduced which allows judges to dish out harsher sentences if the murder was committed with femicidal intent, and defendants will no longer be able to use the argument that the murder was committed out of passion.

Alessia Cilia, a sister of Bernice Cassar, said on Facebook that she (Bernice) was “scared” and “fighting for her safety” before she was killed. “She reported and cried for help but the authorities never really cared. She was sad yesterday because Christmas was around the corner and she was fighting for her safety and that of her kids.”

The Malta Women’s Lobby issued a statement, saying that it is extremely saddened to hear of yet another femicide.

“We are saddened that her life was lost, and that her family are now faced with the loss of a beloved daughter, sister and mother. But we are also angry!”

“We are angry that another woman has been lost to femicide. We are angry that the system appears to have failed her,” the lobby group said.

The authorities concerned must take immediate and effective action to prevent, to protect, to prosecute in cases of Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, the group said yesterday afternoon. Additionally, it is high time that Malta fully and effectively implements the Istanbul Convention, it added.

The massive backlog in court cases of violence against women also needs to be resolved once and for all, so as to avoid delays, often amounting to years, from the moment a report is lodged, it said. It is evident that more magistrates working exclusively on cases of violence against women need to be appointed, it said. “Currently, there is only one magistrate dealing with such cases. This is not acceptable. Furthermore, the government must allocate more funding to entities like Aġenzija Appoġġ and Domestic Violence Services, so that they may employ more social workers to assist women in cases of domestic violence.”