Of course life has no purpose when you’re 23 and still faffing around
Times of Malta reports:
Erin Tanti, the drama teacher accused of the murder of his student Lisa Maria Zahra, 15, had sent her a Valentine card in which he spoke about life having no purpose, a court heard today.
During a play a few days before the two were found at the bottom of Dingli Cliffs on March 19, he had also assumed the name Cliff Dingli.
During the second day of compilation of evidence against Mr Tanti, a police sergeant also told the court how Mr Tanti had told him after the rescue that he and Lisa Maria Zahra had gone to Dingli cliffs and taken 42 Asprin pills each. Ms Zahra jumped first and he followed.
1. What sort of man, and a teacher at that, tells a 15-year-old that life has no purpose?
2. What sort of man, leaving aside that his ‘Valentine’ is 15 years old, considers ‘life has no purpose’ to be a suitable message for a Valentine’s card?
3. What sort of drama teacher thinks Cliff Dingli to be an amusing name for a play he is performing with pupils?
4. What sort of man takes a 15-year-old of whatever gender to cliffs at night, and encourages (I am being generous here) that 15-year-old to take 42 pills which he has bought for the purpose?
He didn’t take any himself – he was planning to drive off with his nifty passport, cash and love letter from a desperate Dane with a dwarf fetish.
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What a disgusting lying and pathetic poor excuse for a human being. His messed up character aside, I honestly don’t know why any girl would be even remotely interested in that tiny ugly, hairy-child-looking midget.
This Dane, I wonder, what is her age?
What is her opinion of him?
What has he told her in the past?
Did he give her the impression that there was a future for them together?
Have the police questioned her? Will they be doing so?
They were playing “I am a little teapot” and he showed her his spout.
The whereabouts of the Dane, together with any correspondence between the Dane and the accused, before and at the time of the tragedy might shed some more light to the investigators.
Weren’t any toxicology tests done on Erin Tanti? I guess we’ll soon find out if he took any of those pills at all.
I believe that it was only after two days from the 19th that it he became a suspect of sorts, though I stand to be corrected.
My point is that, if his was treated as a failed suicide attempt (I believe it was stated on the news on the 19th that foul play was ruled out), then chances are that no blood samples were taken, let alone tested to verify what Tanti said about the alcohol and aspirin.
A few days back, I made a comment in the belief that there was more to do with rejection and less with being a psychopath.
Instead Daphne, you have always emphasised the psychological plus “lanzit” dimension. Reading the testimony describing the horrendous manipulation to which Tanti has subjected his pupils, I think you are bang on target and my theory explained much less. This kind of abhorrent thinking is a very hard pill to swallow but facts are facts.
The testimony points to two very disturbing questions: Was Lisa Maria is first and only victim? Were there others? By victim here I also mean a rationally identified and purposely targeted minor.
I think that when the brother and father discovered that he had been in the house and when Tanti discovered that his cover was blown, he couldn’t get rid of her fast enough.
A psychopath likes to act out his illusions incognito. Once controlling adults entered the scenario and his act was exposed, that “game” was over. It needed to be scrapped. He must have known it couldn’t have lasted for ever and laid the “suicide” foundations.
Somebody asked what would happen if he wrote a book and benefitted from this horror story. I think that based on his aspirations for fame, this is a very relevant question that should be addressed by the courts.
This is a person who thought that negative publicity was worth it.
Manipulator…..Basic Instinct 3 coming up soon. Yeah, and after doing what he planned to do, he would dash off to get the Virtu Ferry which we all know leaves very early in the morning.
A pathetic, cowardly man who is so incapable of relating to people his own age (it might not only be limited to women) that the only ‘relationship’ he was capable of having was with a minor and a pupil; ie. someone he could have complete control over and who would do and believe whatever he would tell her.
He probably felt he was lacking the respect he thought he deserved from his peers and the Maltese theatre community, and needed someone young and impressionable to bolster his own ego.
He didn’t ‘love’ her. He loved having power over her, probably because he was lacking control in so many other aspects of his life. The only person Erin Tanti truly loves is Erin Tanti.
I cannot believe that a grown man would brainwash and continually romanticize the notion of suicide to a 15 year old pupil, who allegedly already had problems of her own. What kind of vile and reprehensible creature would do this?
He disgusts me as an adult, a woman and as a teacher.
My thoughts exactly.
However, there’s one thing I still can’t figure out; how was he injured?
Did he slide down a couple of metres while he went down to retrieve his jacket and possessions from its pockets?
Or did he purposely hurt himself because he lost his way up?
The latter could explain why he wasn’t wearing any trousers; if the skin is unprotected, the damage down is double.
“he was planning to drive off with his nifty passport, cash and love letter from a desperate Dane with a dwarf fetish.”
That’s the problem. Serious people don’t date school girls. Not because school girls are dumb, immature and don’t know how to do it – but because it’s abuse of a child’s vulnerability.
And the girl in question was vulnerable only because she was too young, too inexperienced, too good to know she was prey in the lion’s den.
That’s why 15-year-olds are considered children and not adults.
Well said.
More about Erin Tanti by an unknown writer.
‘L-Gharaq u l-Ghaqal / Perspiration and Good Behaviour by Erin tanti
Erin Stuart Palmier, Éire Stuart jew Erin Stewart Tanti – skond kif tafu int, jbiddel ismu mill-inqas darba kulljum. Xi drabi direttur, aktar forsi attur (izda ma toghgbux wisq l-idea), kittieb; izda qatt ma ppubblika xejn as such; persuna tat-tejatru?, jwarrabhom l’dawk, ma jahmilhomx, specjalment l-atturi; politikant, izda warrab dan il-hsieb ukoll meta ltaqa ma min kien se jivvutalu. He could do better for himself.
Il–krediti li jghoddu ghalieh sa issa jinkludu l-addattamenti tejatrali ta’ kitbiet letterarji Maltin ghall-palk, u il-waqtiet fejn qam fil-ghodu sabiex jara li wiccu kien stampat fuq il-faccata tat-Times mimli tadam.
Erin Stuart Palmier, dak li fl-ahhar play reading tal-~Poezijaplus zvojta post bit-“tendenzi infantili” tieghu, se jkun qed jiftah ghall-ewwel darba l-ewwel draft ta’ “L-GHARAQ U L-GHAQAL/ PERSPIRATION AND GOOD BEHAVIOUR”, ktejjeb poeziji li ghad jrid jiddeciedi jippubblikax jew jarmihx – miktubin bi stil bilingwali, bisesswali, jithabbeb, jofroq u joghbod u ddeddikati lil kull persuna li l-awtur qatt hexa.’
“saline slip shod
sloht dahri b’imhabbitha
her nails engrave a name
onto the curvature of my back”
– extract from “l-gharaq u l-ghaqal” ta’ Erin Stuart Palmier
http://eventot.com/l-gharaq-u-l-ghaqal-perspiration-and-good-behaviour/595812
The unknown writer of that piece is Erin Tanti himself.
I think that it is better to let justice takes its course.We cannot judge and condemn anybody before the full facts and witnesses are out.It is a very tragic story for both families.In my opinion both were under stress and that it is the reason for what happened.When under stress one acts differenty.Normal people act differently.so why not wait and let the judges do their work?
“In my opinion both were under stress and that it is the reason for what happened.”
Persil, follow your own teaching and don’t judge because you don’t know all the facts.
But then, maybe yours is an opinion and ours is a judgement. Be consistent.
you’re an idiot
What rubbish, honestly. We have Tanti’s own account of what happened and that is horrendous enough without the details you’re still expecting to hear.
He’s an adult teacher who had a sexual relationship with his pupil and planned to dump her when she became inconvenient. He bought pills for their ‘joint’ suicide and planned to abscond. He says she jumped off a cliff while she looked at him. He says he didn’t jump with her. So in the last moments of her life, she could see that he’d abandoned her.
His words. Are you saying we shouldn’t believe him? I agree. The full story is probably much worse.
An adult teacher drove his vulnerable 15-year-old pupil to Dingli Cliffs at night, encouraged (forced?) her to drink whisky and swallow a large amount of aspirin, after which she supposedly “fell” to her death. He, meanwhile, took his passport, a Virtu Ferries ticket and a large amount of cash with him to Dingli Cliffs.
Do you need that to be repeated to you again? How can one not “judge”?
Isn’t it likely that he took off his trousers and left them in the car to ensure he doesn’t travel in tattered jeans after simulating a 40m fall?
His simulating a fall was probably “plab B”, “plan A” probably having been to walk down a footpath to retrieve his jacket, which contained his passport, Virtu Ferries ticket and car keys – a plan which presumably failed with him stumbling in the dark, getting injured, and hence having to resort to “plan B”.
If he had any guts and wanted to play the tragic hero, he would have jumped first.
If he had any guts, he’d have helped her not messed with her mind.
Are the police trying to trace this Danish girl? She might be able to shed more light on this tragedy.
Persil, do you clean all types of linen or only Erin Tanti’s?