A look back at past cases of wife murders in Malta

Abstract

This feature is part 1 (part 2: Jan 24/2016, pp. 36-37 *Link below) of E. Attard’s look into the uxoricide history of Malta & Gozo. He chronologically examines approximately 12 case studies from around the country: from motives to the events leading up to the murders & trials. Starting from the 19th Century, with Felic Ciangura’s killing of his wife Rozi in 1837, only to be charged and captured 19 years later. Some selected cases are examined in more detail, such as that of Guzeppi Micallef who shot his wife Roza in 1899. Guzeppi was sentenced to death in 1900, being the only man in Malta since 1800 to be hung for uxoricide. Instead, Attard states, many of the accused were only sentenced to a few years of imprisonment. This in turn provides a study of the Maltese judicial system, itself. The rarity of life sentences (last judgment in 1946) & in one case (Silvestro Bartolo, 1899) a death penalty that was reprieved by the Governor of Malta. The feature also includes 5 photographs and a page from the Malta Government Gazette (21/10/1929) with the Proclamation IV, introducing the jury system in Malta homicidal cases.