Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/624751
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 10 JANUARY 2016 News 13 MIRIAM DALLI THAT oft-repeated maxim about justice delayed was sounded out four years ago by Oliver Scicluna, the late father of murdered Martin Scicluna who was killed by his busi- ness partner in 2008 at their sports store in Qormi. In 2012, Scicluna told the press that his wife Martha had died heart- broken over the death of their son. "A death no human being deserves. It was a tragic situation my family went through," he said as his fam- ily waited for the wheels of justice to turn. And slowly they turned, until Scicluna's murderer Spiridione (Dione) Mercieca died earlier this week on Wednesday morning, after a long illness, at the age of 54. With him came the end of the slow pros- ecution, which even saw one wit- ness, Norbert Pace, pass away in the process. Like Oliver Scicluna's own plea for justice to be served four years ago, Martin Scicluna's surviving wife Jacqui Scicluna expressed her disap- pointment on Facebook that justice had not prevailed. "Today you will rest in peace," Jac- qui wrote in an address to her dead husband, as she learnt of Mercieca's passing away. "Justice did not prevail but karma did. It is now in the hands of God. I will not judge nor will any other being but God will judge for the murder of our beloved Martin Sci- cluna. He took your life seven and a half years before he died. May we all find peace in our hearts. May you all RIP." Scicluna's nephew Mark Abela Scolaro joined his aunt on Facebook in expressing dismay at the judicial system while hailing the end of an ugly chapter that will never be for- gotten. "Justice did not prevail after seven whole years. Two kids were left without a father, a wife without a husband, a mother and father without a son and lots of memories and sadness to a whole family and friends who loved him," Abela Sco- laro said. "Our judicial system rots. The person who caused all this has to face the Divine Creator now. My consolation is that there can be no excuses and nothing but the whole truth will be presented in front of God. May you rest in peace and face divine justice. This chapter is finally closed now." Back in September 2015, Sciclu- na's sister Grace had complained on Facebook that Mercieca was enjoy- ing full freedom while out on bail. "No justice, yet. He who needlessly took a life, does not deserve to have a life," she said of Mercieca, who continued running his artificial turf business. Since Mercieca gave himself up to the police after shooting his busi- ness partner, the relatives could not understand why he had not yet been convicted. It was around noon on a Tuesday in September of 2008 when Mer- cieca, then 46 from Birkirkara, shot Scicluna, then 43, in the chest and forehead from a distance of two me- tres. The father of two from Siggiewi died on the spot at the Qormi office of All Sports International – a com- pany specialising in the installation of artificial turf pitches. Scicluna was chairman whilst Mercieca was the managing director. According to witness Norbert Pace, who passed away in 2011, Sci- cluna suspected that Mercieca was fiddling with company money – an accusation that Dione Mercieca also levelled at Scicluna. Pace had told the court that the victim had wanted Mercieca out of the company as he had suspected foul play in the company's finances. But on that fateful day, Pace heard the two businessmen arguing in Sci- cluna's office, with Scicluna order- ing Mercieca to get his things and leave. According to Pace, Mercieca did indeed leave the office, only to return with a gun and shots rang out. Mercieca then left the premises and drove his Mitsubishi off-road- er to Valletta, parked in Palace Square and walked right up to the law courts, found Police Inspector Chris Pullicino and gave himself up. Police later found the shotgun with two cartridges left in his car. Bittersweet closure for murdered businessman's family THE SUDDENLY ELUSIVE ANGELIK BIRZEBBUGIA mystic Angelik Caruana has refused to comment on the Church's disavowal of his claim to receive regular visits from the Virgin Mary – as has practically every other person involved in the case. In his decree on the matter issued yesterday, Archbishop Charles Sci- cluna ruled that "in this case, the judgement of the Church, the said alleged apparitions, alleged mes- sages, and other alleged mystical phenomena is that their origin is not divine and that they are not to be regarded as supernatural". Damage control was the order of the day among those successfully spoken to, with almost every ques- tion hitting a wall of polite 'no com- ment'. A phone call to Caruana's resi- dence, seeking a reaction to the decree, also ended abruptly upon the caller being identified as a jour- nalist. "I'm going to hang up now, thank you, bye bye," said the kindly voice at the other end of the line. Marginally more forthcoming was Lawrence Genovese, one of the mystic's early followers, who had accompanied and filmed several of Caruana's "visions". Genovese claimed not to have been aware of the decree when contacted by Mal- taToday in the afternoon yesterday. Unwilling or unable to give his reaction, but sounding dismayed at the news, he said: "It's too early for that now. I don't know what we're going to do... we must obey the Church." Pscyhologist Dr Mark Xuereb, who submitted a 20,000-word re- port on the case to the Church au- thorities, was also unable to com- ment on the report's findings or indeed anything about his former patient, as Caruana had withdrawn the consent necessary for him to do so. Caruana, a father of four who works as a receptionist at a Flori- ana home for the elderly, first made headlines in 2006 when he alleged that a statue of the Virgin Mary in his home had started weeping tears of blood and oozing oil. He began to claim that he was receiv- ing regular visions of the Virgin Mary and attracted a considerable fol- lowing who would listen as he imparted monthly fortune-cookie-esque messages from the Blessed Virgin to the public at Borg in-Nadur. He had also claimed to suffer regular demonic attacks and to bear the marks of the stigmata, including an invisible crown of thorns, one of which he says, pierces the roof of his mouth. A blog containing an account of each of the alleged apparitions was updated early yesterday morning to reflect the Church's decision. Topmost on the website is a one- sentence post, in outsize typeset. 'Conclusion reached by the Church Authorities in Malta regarding the alleged apparitions at Borg in-Na- dur: Not divine and not supernatu- ral.' But to many, it was a conclusion they had reached for themselves long ago. Even the most ardent believers must have balked when, in January last year, Caruana was filmed carrying an imaginary baby Jesus, which he said had been hand- ed to him by the Blessed Virgin. His accounts of the apparitions would often clearly borrow as- pects from other famous Mar- ian visits. The earliest "mes- sages" tended to finish with a variation of a salutation normally associated with the visionaries of Medjugorje – "thank you for responding to my call," but that trend eventually petered out. On at least one occasion, Caruana ate grass – ostensibly at the com- mand of the Mother of God – a request uncannily similar to that asked of St Bernardette Soubirous at Lourdes. Those less than impressed by his antics included Birzebbugia shop- keepers, several of whom, when spoken to at the height of the frenzy in 2007, revealed that Caruana had a history of theatrics – and more of- ten than not owed them money. "I don't trust Angelik," one had told newspaper Illum, echoing the general theme. "Wearing a plas- ter cast on his arm in the morning and running about without it in the evening. And the stories? One bet- ter than the other! My brother has a shop across the road, he was bitten too." At around the same time, one of Caruana's co-workers had told Il- lum that at one time he had collect- ed donations for his children who, he said, were stricken with cancer. Of the purported visions, she had been dismissive: "A sham, like the rest of them [his stories]." The messages themselves are, for the most part, generic exhortations for Catholics to grow in faith, at- tend mass and pray the rosary. A few are oddly specific: "Tell Fr Hay- den to tell the people at the big MIR meeting and at the one for youths that I want conversion in the world, in humanity." On one occasion, Caruana claimed the Virgin Mary was exhorting voters to vote against the introduction of divorce. The local Church authorities, acting on the instructions of Arch- bishop Emeritus Paul Cremona, had carried out an in-depth investi- gation which culminated in yester- day's ruling. The decree, promulgated by the Archbishop's Curia and signed by Archbishop Charles Scicluna, also followed a consultation with the College of Consultors and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech. While the investigation report it- self is off-limits to the public, it is known that forensic investigator Anthony Abela Medici and foren- sic pathologist Albert Cilia Vin- centi, who were commissioned by the Curia to investigate the claims, had concluded that the DNA from blood on the statue belonged to Caruana himself and that the oil was vegetable oil. Caruana had been involved in a minor security breach at the Vati- can in 2011, when he climbed over a security barrier in an attempt to hand a letter to Pope Benedict XVI. The letter, found to consist of "de- votional messages," was taken by the Vatican gendarmerie, who then escorted Caruana to the exit. MaltaToday also spoke to Carua- na himself, who declined to answer any questions. Ruckus in the Vatican: Angelik's attempt to jump a cordon and hand Pope Benedict a personal message is thwarted as he is escorted away by security officers As the Curia officially debunks the 'visions' of self- appointed mystic Angelik Caruana, MATTHEW AGIUS struggles to reach out to the man himself The divine is not at work here, says Church Murdered: Martin Scicluna Accused: Dione Mercieca