‘Interrogation’ is not used by police in the UK but ‘questioning’.

Interrogation has a negative connotation. They use interrogation in Malta because the police are brutal and uncouth.

That is a sober idea; otherwise the church would turn into a circus.

I agree with you Maryanne and think, like Daphne already pointed out, that Mr. Xuereb ” doth protest too much “.

I’m not looking forward to Saturday and in fact, I refuse to watch any of it.

I am also confused by the way Mr Xuereb is reacting.

He is giving interviews to everyone who requests them. This is completely inappropriate because it’s a fact that very little is known about this murder.

It may well be that Mr Xuereb believes that he is duty bound to react to insinuations against his family.

Regretfully his reaction is only serving to fuel further allegations and speculation.

In a moment of grief and stress silence is the best approach.

She is saying bye to her beloved Duncan. And she is bringing the babies as she will not leave them alone!

Do you not know what a trauma this girl is under, what she witnessed?

Daphne and all you miserable people who have nothing better to do than to misinterpret everything Mr Xuereb has tried to do, he is protecting his daughter and the deceased from all these horrible lies that has been spoken about.

[Daphne – He is actually making things worse, ED, and that is what is being discussed here, given that I have banned from this blog all speculation about the case itself. Church rules dictate that family members are not allowed to speak at funerals, but that is not the reason that Claire should not. It is most unwise, that’s all. And the babies should be kept out of it. A funeral is no place for three-month-old infants.]

Would you not do the same for your child? I know I would. The media has forced him into doing so as they have been malicious and cruel to say the least. Whatever the family do, if they don’t speak , you would all be, but why are they not talking?

[Daphne – Not at all. On the contrary. The Gera family are not doing the same, nor is Duncan Zammit’s family, and everybody accepts that because it is the normal thing. People in grief run away from the press, not court it.]

If they speak, why are they talking? You would find fault in whatever they do! The family know the truth of that horrific morning.

[Daphne – They no more know the truth than anyone else does, ED. This is very difficult to accept, but accept it you must. You know only what you are told.]

Just thank God that Gera did not choose your home to enter and savagely attack you!

[Daphne – That is an unacceptable statement. You do not know how he came to be there, and you do not know who attacked who. Nor do you know that his presence there was random. And this is why, besides other reasons, silence is best.]

As this was definitely a random attack, a case of being in the wrong house at the wrong time!

[Daphne – You have no grounds for reaching that conclusion. As a member of the extended family, it is the conclusion you prefer. This does not make it fact. Until the facts are laid out, it is best not to draw conclusions.]

Why is it so hard for the Maltese to believe that we had a psychopath living among us.

[Daphne – I think you forget, ED, that the fact that you didn’t know Nicholas Gera does not mean that nobody else knew him. And that is why they might have a different view. You have no grounds for claiming that he was a psychopath. You will not even know whether he attacked, rather than being attacked, unless the forensic investigations and the autotopsy yield conclusive results. This is not to suggest anything untoward, but merely to remind you of something I wrote about in my column yesterday: that we shouldn’t assume anything because we just don’t know.]

The aggressor was not Maltese, but a kid who was exposed to the horrors of war and brought here to find a better life, but who definitely needed psychological help and obviously never got it!

[Daphne – He was Maltese, ED. There is no such thing as ‘Maltese blood’. You do not know his background or whether he needed psychological help and got or didn’t get it. His family background is in fact excellent.]

The police have no links and there is no other explanation!

[Daphne – ED, the police do not tell anyone what they have and haven’t got, and certainly not the families of suspects. Please remember that Mrs Zammit Xuereb is officially still a suspect by default. This was carefully and tactfully explained by Dr Abela Medici on Bondi+. As for there being no other explanation, I have three sisters to whom I am very close and I can’t claim to know who their friends and contacts are. I know some of their friends, mainly those they’ve know for years, but certainly not all. There is no way you can know whether Mr Gera was known to Mr Zammit or not.]

Is it not enough that the family have to go through this terrible loss and also have to deal with all the lies the media are saying. I urge the police to come forward and put out a proper TRUE statement.

[Daphne – Yes, I agree with you that the lies and speculation are terrible, but you yourself are guilty of doing the same thing with all that you have said about Nicholas Gera. It works both ways. Nobody should say anything. You are wrong to urge the police to face the press if you imagine this will make things better for the families. It will make things worse. At a press conference, you cannot control the questions, or even the answers.]

The Meredith Kercher / Amanda Knox case springs to mind. The family of the former kept a more-or-less dignified approach in the face of all they were faced with, despite their grief; meanwhile, the family of the latter created a whole rumpus. Unfortunately, they got their way in the end.

One of the points dealt with was exactly the address to the congregation by members of the family of the deceased or other members of the congregation.

Parish priests were instructed not to allow any such addresses.

Instead, should the family so request, the celebrant can convey a message of thanks and appreciation to those present. This is how it should be done.

I think that the recent case of the elderly lady who was robbed at her doorstep of her Sliema home and later succumbed to injuries (which must classify as a homicide) must have slipped his mind.

You are mentioning another case as well re Peter Jones, which makes it 2 cases involving Maltese.