Live Blog: Day 8 of Yorgen Fenech’s Murder Trial, More Witness Testimonies

Welcome to our live courtroom updates as the trial of Yorgen Fenech over the murder of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia continues into its eighth day.

We’re reporting from the law courts in Valletta, where proceedings before Madam Justice Edwina Grima are expected to get underway shortly. The court is due to hear further evidence today, with forensic specialists and emergency responders among the witnesses expected to testify.

Refresh for live updates from court

Resident recalls suspicious cars near Bidnija before murder

11:15am- Resident Wallace Sammut tells the court that police contacted him the day after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination to ask about vehicles he had noticed near his home in the Tarġa Gap area.

Sammut says that in the weeks before the murder, he repeatedly saw a small white Hyundai rental car parked for long periods on a rough road near his home. He says the vehicle appeared out of place and that he had noticed a person inside it, a man in his 40s who looked “dishevelled”

Before the white car appeared, Sammut says he had also seen a larger silver Peugeot parked in the same area on several occasions, sometimes obstructing the road. He estimates he saw it four or five times in the weeks before the murder.

He tells the court he lived less than 100 metres from where the cars were parked. On the day of the assassination, he heard a sound at around 3pm but did not initially think much of it. Later, after seeing police and emergency vehicles in the area, he realised something had happened. He says the white car was parked outside his home that morning but had disappeared by the afternoon.

Cross-examination is currently underway.

Officer recounts argument at Bidnija scene, More First Respondents Testify

10:45am- Sergeant Suzanne Mifsud, now stationed with the Gender-Based Violence Unit in Mtarfa, tells the court about her response to the Bidnija explosion while she was stationed at Mosta police station.

She says she was on duty between noon and 8pm when, at around 3pm, she received a call informing her about a car on fire in the area. At the scene, she saw the remains of the vehicle, identified as a leasing car, and human remains.

Mifsud recalls speaking to Mario Vella, who was nearby with his vehicle. Vella told her he had been informed by his daughter about the burning car and had gone to the area. She says an argument later broke out between Vella and Daphne Caruana Galizia’s son Matthew over allegations that Vella had taken photographs of the scene. Vella claimed his phone was damaged during the confrontation.

Mifsud says she filed a report regarding the incident, which is now being presented in court. No cross-examination is required.

PC Rodrick Vassallo testifies about the aftermath of the Bidnija car explosion and the argument between Matthew Caruana Galizia and Mario Vella at the scene.

Retired PC Ruben Balzan then recalls receiving a radio alert about a car fire in Bidnija while stationed at Ta’ Kandja. He says officers later realised it was an explosion and remained at the scene for around an hour and a half until forensic teams arrived.

No cross-examination is requested for either witness.

Police officer recalls argument near Bidnija crime scene

10:30am– Police Constable Mario Farrugia takes the stand, telling the court about his response to the scene in Bidnija on the day Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed.

Farrugia, who was assigned to the Rapid Intervention Unit at the time, says officers were alerted at around 3pm about a vehicle on fire in a field. When they arrived, members of the Civil Protection Department were already extinguishing the blaze.

He recalls seeing the remains of the car in the middle of the road but says officers were unable to approach closely at that stage. He also remembers seeing two men involved in what appeared to be a heated exchange further up the road, although the situation quickly settled.

Before the area was sealed off, a pick-up truck drove through the scene. Farrugia says he stopped the vehicle and searched it after the driver explained that he owned a nearby field. Nothing illegal or suspicious was found.

No cross-examination. Sargen Mifsud is called in to testify.

Defence cross-examines Europol expert, focuses on Schembri and Cardona

10:00am- Defence lawyer Giannella De Marco begins cross-examining Europol expert Marius van der Meer, focusing on the scope of his analysis and the “possible instigators” referred to in his report.

Van der Meer confirms that he did not extract the data himself but analysed material recovered by digital forensic experts from Daphne Caruana Galizia’s phone, cloned SIM card and cloud accounts. He reiterates that his work was limited to English-language material because of the language barrier, while Maltese-language communications were left for other investigators to analyse.

The defence then turns to the seven investigative scenarios identified in the report. Van der Meer confirms these were intended to provide possible lines of inquiry, including potential motives and possible instigators, rather than identify specific suspects.

De Marco refers the witness to sections of the report dealing with the Panama Papers, Pilatus Bank, the Individual Investor Programme and the so-called brothel scandal. She notes that Keith Schembri and Chris Cardona feature within those scenarios and asks whether they were identified as possible instigators.

Van der Meer replies that his report did not identify any particular individual as an instigator. Instead, it highlighted scenarios arising from Caruana Galizia’s reporting that investigators believed warranted further examination as possible motives for the homicide.

The defence also notes that the report recommends investigating these scenarios in the context of the planning phase of the murder, from late 2016 until its execution in October 2017, before asking whether Yorgen Fenech is mentioned anywhere in the report.

Van der Meer confirms that Fenech’s name does not appear in the document.

Cross-examination concludes. Constable PC Mario Farrugia is called in by the prosecution to testify.

More Expert Witnesses Testify

9:45am- Court-appointed IT expert Martin Bajada takes the witness stand to present his forensic examination of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s mobile phone.

A redacted version of his report is exhibited in court, with certain sections withheld to safeguard the confidentiality of Caruana Galizia’s journalistic sources.

Europol Expert Who Analysed Daphne’s Phone Data Testifies

9:55am- Europol expert Marius van der Meer takes the witness stand to testify about his analysis of data extracted from Daphne Caruana Galizia’s mobile phone.

Van der Meer, who served with the Dutch National Police and was seconded to Europol between 2014 and 2023, tells the court he was appointed by the inquiring magistrate on 1 May 2018 to analyse the digital evidence extracted by forensic specialists.

He explains that his work focused on information recovered from Caruana Galizia’s mobile phone, a cloned SIM card and her cloud storage, including emails, documents and images. While his report refers to a cloned phone and SIM card, he says the forensic extraction process itself was carried out by other experts and falls outside his area of expertise.

Van der Meer adds that he analysed only English-language material, explaining that Maltese-language data was left to investigators with the necessary linguistic expertise.

The prosecution asks Europol expert Marius van der Meer to explain the purpose of his analysis.

Referring to his report, Van der Meer says his assignment had several objectives, including identifying who Daphne Caruana Galizia had been communicating with, the subjects of those communications, potential lines of inquiry arising from the data and information that could assist investigators in identifying possible motives or those behind the murder.

He stresses that exploring possible instigators was only one of several objectives, rather than the sole purpose of the exercise.

Van der Meer tells the court his analysis of the English-language data identified seven key communication themes that he believed warranted further investigation. He explains these were identified using forensic analytical software that grouped communications into clusters based on recurring contacts and topics.

He emphasises that his role was not to identify suspects but to analyse the contents of Caruana Galizia’s phone and highlight investigative scenarios for police to pursue. He says he began working on the report immediately after receiving the assignment, with the final report completed on 14 May 2018. The report was presented to the inquiring Magistrate in person, via physical copy on 22nd May, in his office.

Van der Meer explains that his analysis was carried out solely on the data extracted from Daphne Caruana Galizia’s devices and cloud accounts, without being cross-checked against other evidence gathered in the homicide investigation. He says the purpose of the report was to provide investigative leads that could later be corroborated with other evidence collected during the murder inquiry.

Court struggles to hear Dutch experts via video link

9:25am- The court begins hearing evidence from three experts from the Netherlands, Johannus Martinus, Cornelius Schot, and Johanna Waslander via video link.

The witnesses include an international forensic adviser and two investigators from the Dutch National Police who specialise in major cross-border investigations.

The prosecution first asks the witnesses to identify forensic reports prepared during the investigation into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination, including reports compiled by Netherlands Forensic Institute expert Marcel van Beest, who testified before the court yesterday. Leonard explains that although she acted only as an adviser on the case and did not draft the reports herself, she recognises the signatures of the experts who prepared them.

The Dutch investigators are now taking the court through a separate report relating to the Bidnija crime scene and the explosives used in the car bombing. However, the video link is making proceedings difficult to follow, with poor audio prompting repeated requests for the witnesses to repeat their answers.

Daphne Caruana Galizia’s Phone

Judge Edwina Grima asks the Dutch witnesses what happened to the mobile phone after forensic examinations were completed.

The witnesses explain that, once the analysis was finished, the device was returned to the Maltese authorities by registered DHL courier. They say the phone had been recovered during the final search of the crime scene, logged into the chain of custody, handed over to the police and later transported to the Netherlands Forensic Institute, where it was securely stored while forensic examinations were carried out.

No cross-examination by the defence was carried out.

08:45am- What happened yesterday?

Day seven marked the conclusion of Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud’s cross-examination, with the defence continuing its efforts to challenge the police investigation and raise questions about other figures linked to the case, including Keith Schembri and former minister Chris Cardona. The defence also revisited the disappearance of Schembri’s phone, allegations surrounding Melvin Theuma’s phantom government job and other aspects of the investigation.

After the defence concluded its questioning, jurors were given the opportunity to put their own questions to Arnaud, focusing on Schembri’s relationship with Theuma, deleted messages, the missing phone and other key pieces of evidence. The afternoon then shifted to forensic testimony, with first responders and experts describing the crime scene and the aftermath of the car bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The prosecution is being led by lawyers Godwin Cini, Anthony Vella and Danika Vella from the Office of the Attorney General, assisted by Assistant Police Commissioner Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra. Fenech is represented by lawyers Charles Mercieca, Gianluca Caruana Curran and Giannella de Marco, while the Caruana Galizia family is participating in the proceedings as parte civile, represented by lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi.

We’ll bring you the latest testimony and key developments from inside the courtroom as they happen. Refresh this page for live updates throughout the day.

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Clara Sciberras

Clara is a massive foodie who recently graduated from the University of Malta as a lawyer. Her biggest passions in life are the performing arts, which she pursues professionally when she’s not too busy writing.