Man Who Trapped Estranged Wife In Underground Kalkara Cell Charged With Attempted Murder And Rape
A man who allegedly trapped his estranged Maltese wife in an underground cell under Fort Rinella for three days without food or water was charged in court with attempted murder and rape today.
Roddy Williams, who is being represented by criminal lawyer and law commissioner Franco Debono, pleaded not guilty to the charges but was denied bail out of fear he could absond to his home country – the Seychelles.
More details from this shocking story of domestic violence emerged today, during an interview which Natalie’s father Charles Higgins gave the Malta Independent.
Higgins said his daughter had filed several police reports against her husband for domestic violence over the years, and that Roddy Williams had in 2011 been given a suspended sentence after pleading guilty to beating his wife up while in a drunken state.
Natalie Williams decided to break off the relationship in August and start separating proceedings after her husband beat her savagely in St Julian’s. However, her husband didn’t seem ready to let the relationship go.
Photo credit: TVM
“Last Wednesday, he was waiting outside my house – where Natalie has been living for two months – for her to arrive from work,” he was quoted as saying. “At one point, I heard Natalie screaming and crying and I rushed outside to see what was happening. He was pulling her but eventually let go and drove off. Natalie was in a state of shock.”
Higgins said he went to the police station to report his daughter missing on Friday at around 8pm, only two hours after her shift at work had finished. The police told him to give it some time, but Higgins kept warning them that her daughter had received several threats from her husband and the police eventually issued a missing person’s report on Sunday.
Higgins said his daughter was found on Monday after her son bumped into Roddy Williams while walking the dog.
“He spotted his mother’s husband sitting on a bench and eating grapes, tried to restrain him and asked bystanders to call the police,” he said. When the officers arrived, Roddy surrendered and took them to an underground fortification between Fort Rinella and Fort Ricasoli where he had been keeping his wife.
Roddy Williams is being represented by criminal lawyer Franco Debono
Natalie Williams was reported missing last Sunday after last having last been seen on Friday. She was found by the authorities on Tuesday night. Speaking to the press, Natalie Williams’ relatives said she had been thrown into the sea before being dragged into the cave. After speaking to her daughter in hospital, her father told the press her husband had thrown her into the sea before dragging her to the cave and that he had pressed a piece of glass to her neck and threatened to cut her head off.
Apart from rape and attempted murder, Roddy Williams was also charged with being in possession of heroin, threatening the police, slightly injuring his wife’s son, “living an idle and vagrant life”, and disturbing the public peace.
The court also ordered he receive medical treatment to treat facial injuries, including a black eye, he had sustained.
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