Roderick Cassar Becomes First Person In Malta Charged In Court With Femicide
Roderick Cassar has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his estranged wife and mother of his children Bernice Cassar.
In court today, Cassar’s legal team, Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri, did not request bail for their client, but requested he be kept in a forensic unit.
Cassar was charged with femicide, becoming the first in Malta’s history to receive the charge. This new legal concept entered into Maltese law following the rape and murder of Paulina Dembska.
The concept aims to curb the excuse of “a crime of passion” when someone causes severe violence to their own partner.
He was also charged with holding Cassar against her will, causing moral and psychological damage, possessing a gun without a license, stealing a phone and the victim’s car keys, damaging the victim’s car and threatening another man.
In court, several members of the victim’s family appeared.
Criminal lawyer Franco Debono exiting court. Credit: Chris Sant Fournier
Cassar, 42, took to social media hours after allegedly murdering his wife, sending messages where he said he was sorry to his children as police surrounded his home.
He was eventually arrested at 2am after police forcefully entered his home.
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