Mario Rizzo Naudi's grieving widow seeks answers on husband’s mysterious death

On 1 April of this year, Malta woke up shocked by the news of the death of beloved doctor, Mario Rizzo Naudi, well-loved in the villages of Zejtun and Ghaxaq.

His family, very suddenly, can now no longer enjoy his infectious smile, wholesome personality, his altruism and dedication to his profession as a doctor.

Mario’s wife, Doriette Rizzo Naudi, told The Malta Independent on Sunday that four months later, the family lives in a limbo of uncertainty trying to solve one mystery after another surrounding his death.

Mario’s death has many strange details, all of which are questions which Doriette and her family keep wondering about.

A magisterial inquiry was appointed into Mario’s death four months ago. It was concluded roughly two months ago, yet the magistrate in question, Donatella Frendo Dimech, has decided to withhold the conclusions from the family, Doriette said. Why? The family does not know.

Doriette recalled her story of when she first found a helpless Mario on a Saturday, after she had come back home from running errands.

“The last time I saw Mario alive and well, was at 11am on that Saturday. My mother and I left the house, ran some errands, while he was seeing patients in his clinic adjacent to the house. returned at 1pm,” Doriette said.

When she opened the garage door to park her car, she saw the alarming scene: a large pool of blood on the floor of the garage, a toppled-over ladder, Mario’s wristwatch, broken and his glasses on the floor.

“It was obvious a serious accident had happened, but I did not see him there,” Doriette said, adding that she immediately, instinctively left her car in the middle of the road, turned off the engine and entered the house to find Mario sitting on an armchair in the living room, “washed” in blood.

“He did not know what had happened to him, when I asked him, he was absolutely confused, and said that nothing had happened to him,” Doriette said. She started looking for any wounds that might have been the cause when she realized Mario felt like a rag doll, limp.

Doriette continued that it was then that she immediately called the emergency line, also thanking the resuscitation staff, who helped with Mario’s first aid.

“I do not know if a second, or an hour had passed. I was in shock,” she said.

“The doctor finally came and told me that Mario had suffered two fractures on the lower-left cranium, and that he probably had a burst eardrum; which explained the blood. He told me Mario had a coup-contrecoup injury, as the fall had caused the brain to collide with the skull, causing internal bleeding on the right side of his skull,” Doriette said.

“But I was told he was lucky as the bones near the fracture stayed in place,” she continued.

The doctor had told her that they would monitor the bleeding, and if it increased, they would have to surgically intervene. Up until then, it was not putting pressure on the brain, and the chances were that it would naturally reduce. They would then eventually take the decision if he needed surgery or not.

“They took him to the neurosurgical ward; he was very well cared for and had continuous monitoring by a nurse 24/7,” Doriette said.

She also said that Mario was having a lot of “fits”, where he would get this incredible strength, which took six men to hold him, despite being almost 71 years old.

“The fits remained, the confusion remained, his lack of memory as well, till the end, he did not know what had happened to him,” Doriette said.

In the meantime, he started progressing; eating soft food again and started to walk again, she said.

The following Thursday, in spite of the fact that he still needed further monitoring on his blood clot and eardrum, the hospital wanted to discharge him.

Doriette and her children were not pleased, but their son decided to take Mario to his home. She visited him there but Mario was uncommunicative and slept for hours, “like he was in a coma”.

The fits remained strong, to the extent that during one of them, he had managed to break double-glazed windows, she said.

By Friday evening, the family decided that Mario should not remain at home and that he needed hospital care.

“He was eventually given a bed in the Medical Ward, which was the only vacant bed at the time, but we were grateful for it,” Doriette said.

“My sons were with him up to 20 minutes past midnight. At that time, he was lucid, in fact he thanked the children, told them not to worry and that he would be going to sleep. My sons told me this on the phone, that he was being coherent, that he was okay,” Doriette continued.

Two hours later, she received a call from hospital, saying that the family had to rush there and that a doctor would be speaking to her.

“I threw something on, informed his family and my children. I got there as fast as I could and they forgot about me. I was begging for information, but nobody told me anything. One of the hospital aids took pity on me and offered me water. The wait felt endless,” Doriette said.

It was then that Doriette started putting together the pieces of the unsolved puzzle, when the hospital aid, assuming that she had already been informed on the circumstances, said that Mario had fallen off the bed, with nobody noticing, nor knowing how long he had been on the floor.

“I asked if he was alive and she said she thought he still was. More time passed, and I see this team of nursing staff and doctors rushing, surrounding a stretcher. I assumed it was Mario, so I went to him, I wanted to hug him,” Doriette said.

She became emotional as she recalled the scene she saw before her eyes that night. “No human being should ever be reduced to that,” Doriette said, recounting the split-second moment that will remain in her mind forever.

Then the doctor came and escorted her to the ITU quiet room, where he informed her that Mario was almost dead already, but there was a hair-line chance that an operation might save his life, and the surgeon had decided to go for it.

“They told me not to expect any answers for the next few hours as they were going to operate,” she said.

Sitting there with her sons, Doriette waited. At 8am, the surgeon came and escorted them to another room.

“He broke the news as gently as he could. Mario had had a massive heart attack during the operation and did not survive the surgery,” Doriette explained.

The magisterial inquiry was then triggered, to try and find out exactly what had happened in those two hours prior to the call the family had received.

Doriette said that she has endless questions left unanswered. Was he being monitored 24/7? Did he have bed guards, knowing about his fits? Was he tied in any way?

“This is why I want the conclusions of the magisterial inquiry, as there are millions of other questions which it would answer for us, and I can't understand why they won't give us the conclusions. I want to know,” Doriette said.

The magisterial inquiry also meant that the family had to put Mario through an autopsy, which they did not want, but had no other option. Doriette said that the family thought of the next steps as a necessary evil, so that eventually, they could know the results of the inquiry.

Doriette has, up till now, not had one person tell her officially what had happened, what caused his death, if there was someone by his side, how long he was on the floor, for all that bleeding to have occurred inside his head.

“This magisterial inquiry put us through hell, when we were already on our knees. We could not bury Mario, and Maundy Thursday was approaching, where there is a whole week when the church doesn't do burials,” Doriette said, visibly emotional.

“We were desperate to have him resting, before Maundy Thursday. We begged to have Mario's body released,” she continued.

Finally, they managed, and Mario was buried on the eve of Maundy Thursday, carried by his sons and family.

The inquiry also meant that police were coming to the house, to investigate the incident.

“They took security camera footage of the house, they took my mobile phone and I was without it for a month. Nowadays without your mobile phone, it's like you don't have a limb, and they did not tell me why or what they found,” she said.

“We went through a lot, but we cooperated fully, as we said that at least, this magisterial inquiry will eventually give us some answers,” Doriette continued.

Through some chasing, Doriette heard that the inquiry was concluded, after roughly two months. Through her lawyer, she applied to have the conclusions of the inquiry released to the family, but was met with a denial, with no reason why and no explanations.

Now, her lawyer has also applied to the Attorney General’s office to have the conclusions relinquished. They have not received an acknowledgement from the office.

“It is looking like we will never get it. I asked people in the legal field if this was normal and they said that the magistrate has the right to withhold the conclusions of the inquiry, but it is rarely exercised. Why is it being exercised in Mario's case? At least tell me that. They gave no reason, only a denial to my lawyer who relayed it to me,” Doriette continued.

She said that laws exist to protect humans, to safeguard people’s rights. Doriette said that she felt that the family had a right to know what happened to Mario.

“Where is the law which safeguards this right? At least give me a valid explanation as to why my request is being refused. I am sure the magistrate had her valid reasons, but at least, I need to hear that reason, that it was in the best interest for us not to know,” Doriette said, adding that the family had fully co-operated in the magisterial inquiry.

Another unanswered question the family has is that once the inquiry was triggered, the hospital staff is obliged to write a report for the attention of the inspector in charge of the inquiry.

“A particular blogger uploaded on Facebook a copy-paste word for word photo of the report 20 minutes before the police got it. We ourselves hadn't even put all the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle together. We got information from everywhere,” Doriette said.

The blogger is not connected to the family in any way, she said.

“What has happened to the hospital’s internal inquiry to see who divulged the information?” Doriette asked.

She said that her son protested with the hospital on the grounds of data protection. The response we got from the hospital was that once a person dies, he loses all right to data protection. Since it was uploaded after Mario's death, then the family could not argue on data protection.

“Another injustice – for me, once a person is dead, he needs more protection, not less. He can't speak for himself,” Doriette said.

The only reason Doriette could think of, with regards to the magisterial inquiry, was that someone could be scared that the family would sue the hospital for negligence.

“Is that it? But then, is it the magistrate's role to protect the hospital from being sued? The magistrate should be impartial,” Doriette continued.

Doriette said that this experience has “eroded” her. She has lost 50kg in around four months.

“I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't live and I can't breathe. It is cruel. At least give me some answers to the questions that I have, so I could have some closure, perhaps some kind of healing,” Doriette said.

She said that having to claw at authorities goes against her norm, never having had to experience such a situation.

“Why should I be fighting to know what happened to my husband?” Doriette said.

The magistrate’s decision was final, now there is only the option of the AG. They were met with dead silence, she said.

“The longer the silence continues, the longer we die inside,” she said.

Doriette said that she remembers when Mario used to work in the hospital, and she does not blame the hospital staff in any way, knowing their hours and difficulties.

She pleaded for an explanation, as even if the circumstances resulted into a bitter truth, the family should not be left hanging in this “fog”.

Doriette said that she lies in bed at night, with her eyes wide open, unable to sleep as she thinks, saying that she cannot write the questions that run through her mind fast enough, before new questions come to mind.

She recalled a phrase that Jean Paul Sofia's mother, Isabelle Bonnici, had said at her son’s vigil, that even magisterial inquiries should be made public. Sofia died last December when a building under construction collapsed in Kordin.

Would you want a public inquiry? She was asked.

“I just want answers, whatever gives me answers. A few weeks ago, I did not even know there was a magisterial inquiry, a public inquiry or the difference between the two. I have become a semi-expert suddenly, out of necessity,” she had said.

Doriette is seeking answers too. “I feel it is my right. The authorities should do it whichever route they think is best. At least don't leave me in the dark, with these unanswered questions,” she said.

Doriette said that Mario died on their 41st wedding anniversary. “41 years before I was walking up the aisle and 41 years later I was in the mortuary,” she said, adding that she has a very open, bleeding wound.

She wrote to the Prime Minister, as well as the President, in an attempt to receive some answers. The Prime Minister’s office reassured her that they will be looking into it and keep her updated.

Some strange details have come up, which leaves Doriette with even more questions.

When she had arrived home that day and found Mario covered in blood, she also saw two pieces of bread, butter with the lid open and OK sauce, “because Mario was probably feeling peckish, and loved his food”, she said.

Many things were uncharacteristic in her view, as whatever had interrupted Mario to go to the garage, to get something with the ladder, could not have interrupted him from preparing a snack, she speculated.

Moreover, there were two ladders in the garage, one wooden and an aluminium one. Since the floors of the garage were polished cement, it tended to get slippery and Mario had always advised the family to use the wooden ladder. Yet on that day, he had used the aluminium ladder.

Doriette said that the garage was also full of blood, as was the armchair. However, there was not a single drop of blood between the garage and the armchair, as Mario crossed the outside area into the living room.

“Was he alone? How did he, who was as limp as a rag doll, walk from the garage, up the stairs and into the living room. He was covered in blood. Wouldn't he have dripped along the way?” Doriette wondered.

There is another mystery that the family cannot understand. On Monday, during his first hospital stay, Doriette received a phone call from the Zejtun police station at 10pm. She was informed that someone had filed a missing person's report for Mario. Doriette told the police that Mario was in hospital. In fact, their extended family, neighbours, the whole village knew he was in hospital, she said.

“When I asked the police who the person was, they argued that it was data protected. Did the magistrate investigate the person who filed this report? Who would have wanted to file a missing person's report on Mario? Has this person anything to do with it? It is impossible for the person who filed it to not have known he was in hospital,” Doriette asked.

Another strange thing was that through the grapevine of information, Doriette learnt that the autopsy found that Mario had very severe cirrhosis of the liver and that his natural life wouldn't have lasted very long due to this situation.

“Normally, I've been told, that severity is found after continuous, long-term liver damage, through alcohol, drugs or smoking, things Mario never did. Did the magisterial inquiry look into the cause of the damage to his liver?” she said.

Visibly affected, Doriette said that she experiences a lack of sleep and that she sometimes begins her day at 2am, to occupy her mind.

“Mario was very loved and respected. When he died, we couldn't even use the front door, due to all the candles and flowers which were left from the front door to the pavement, a carpet of flowers, out of respect,” Doriette said.

“I am not defying authority. I have every respect and deference towards authority. And if the magistrate believes that it is not in our best interest to know, at least give me a valid, logical reason, so that we can digest it and have closure,” Doriette said.