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3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 18 JANUARY 2023 NEWS MATTHEW AGIUS MURDER victim Sion Grech had tried to defend herself dur- ing the knife attack in which she was fatally stabbed, the jury try- ing two men accused of her mur- der was told Tuesday morning. Medico-legal expert Dr. Mario Scerri took the witness stand as the trial by jury of 52-year-old Ismael Habesh from Libya and 55-year-old Faical Mahouachi from Tunisia, now in its sec- ond week, continued. The two men are accused of murdering Grech, a sex worker, in April 2005. Dr. Scerri told jurors that Grech had not been killed in the field where her body was found. The victim had suffered many cuts and stab wounds all over her body - she had been stabbed in her knees, genitals, breasts, neck and head - but most of the wounds were con- centrated on and above her chest. He opined that the many wounds indicated that the vic- tim had been conscious and doing whatever she could to defend herself from her attack- ers. This also explained the de- fensive wounds he had found on the palms of her hands, her fingers and her broken finger- nails. The jury had already been told that Grech was stabbed 17 times. Grech's body had been in an advanced stage of decompo- sition when it was found in a Marsa field on 13 April 2005, said the forensic expert. "She had been dead for many days." A mobile phone, a condom and a coin were also recovered from the area where the body was found, Dr. Scerri said, but the absence of external evi- dence of a struggle indicated that Grech had not been mur- dered in the field were her body was found. The witness had also been present for the autopsy on Grech's body. He told jurors how during the decomposi- tion process, hair begins to fall out and expose the scalp. This process, Dr. Scerri said, had exposed cuts on the left side of the victim's temple, which had been made by a sharp object. Wide, deep cuts had been made to the right hand side of her neck, he said. The court-ap- pointed forensic expert ex- plained that the victim had also suffered deep stab wounds to her genitals, leg and knee. Shal- low stab wounds were found on her right shoulder and arm. Dr. Scerri had also been ap- pointed to examine Ismael Habesh as part of the inquiry, he said, finding cuts that ap- peared to have been made some days before. Some cuts and scratch marks had become inflamed. All of them had been inflicted at the same time, he established. There had been cuts on the palm of his right hand, relat- ed to drug taking, and bruise caused by blunt trauma that he estimated as having been around four days old. Habesh's right hand also had cuts inflict- ed by a bladed instrument. All of his injuries were classified as slight, he said. In cross-examination Dr. Scerri was asked whether the police had given him any in- formation about the case at the time of his visit to the scene. Dr, Scerri replied that it pained him to say it, but in his long experience police only give minimal information to court experts. "Kemm iqarbnuk," he said. The court expert said that he acted on the instructions of, and was answerable to, the magistrate, while the police worked independently and left the experts to their own devic- es. Autopsy finds stab wound to the heart The court also heard testi- mony from forensic patholo- gists Dr Maria Therese Camill- eri Podesta and Dr Ali Safraz, whom the inquiring magistrate had appointed to carry out an autopsy on Grech's remains. They reported finding part of the victim's face missing. One of the stab wounds had pene- trated her heart, another had sliced through an artery. Lawyers Anthony Vella and Abigail Caruana Vella are pros- ecuting on behalf of the Office of the Attorney General. Lawyers Edward Gatt and Ish- mael Psaila are defence counsel to Habesh. Lawyer Simon Mi- callef Stafrace is representing Mahouachi. Lawyer Roberto Montalto is appearing on be- half of the Grech family. Sion Grech had fought back against her killers, forensics show Murder victim Sion Grech was dragged to a field in Marsa and stabbed to death Winehouse biopic star Marisa Abela has Maltese-Libyan lineage The new star of an upcoming Amy Winehouse biopic is of Maltese-Libyan lineage and has an already impressive acting portfolio. Marisa Abela, Brighton-born, is daughter to actress Caroline Gruber and director Angelo Abela, the latter of Maltese-Libyan and English descent. Meanwhile, her mother is of Polish Jewish and Russian Jewish ancestry. Abela quickly became a name for herself after scoring television roles in the action series COBRA and HBO drama Industry. In July 2022, she joined the cast of Greta Gerwig's much-anticipated film 'Barbie'. Abela was in talks since July last year to secure the role of Amy Winhouse in 'Back to Black', a biopic about the singer directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, who also directed the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey. But fans online are divided over the first photos of Marisa Abela in full costume. The photos were even picked up by the well-known Instagram account and fashion 'watchdog group' Diet Prada. The film itself will focus on Winehouse's years living in London in the early 2000s and will document her intense rise to fame. A press release for the film said it will focus on her "extraordinary genius, creativity and honesty that infused everything she did".