Alleged bomb suppliers offered Koħħu €1,500 a month to shut him up, court hears

Updated 5.40pm with testimony from landlords

Suspected bomb suppliers Jamie Vella and Robert Agius offered to pay €1,500 a month to Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, to stop him mentioning them to police, his relative has testified. 

Peter Brincat, Muscat’s father-in-law, took the witness stand on Monday morning in the trial of the men accused of supplying the bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia.

He told the court that Vella approached him in Rob's Bar cafe in Marsa at some time around 2019 and told him: “I want to speak to you about Ċensu [Vincent Muscat].” The witness asked him to go outside, since there were some other patrons in the bar. 

Vella allegedly told Brincat: “He [Vince Muscat] is saying some things to inspector [Keith] Arnaud, and if he does not name us, we are ready to offer some money."

The witness said Vella offered €750 each, amounting to a total of €1,500 monthly. 

Vella allegedly asked him to inform Muscat when he next visited him in prison. Brincat said Vella was accompanied by someone who was waiting outside for him but he could not recognise him, explaining that he has eyesight problems. 

The witness said Vella told him to inform his daughter, with Brincat adding that she would not take it lightly. 

“I was initially undecided about telling her, but then decided that I should tell her fearing they would find her outside and scare her,” Brincat recalled. When he told his daughter, the woman reportedly replied: “No, no, no.”

The man recalled welcoming his daughter’s reply, who reportedly told him, “I don’t want to know and I don’t want any money. Don’t dare bring them here.”

Brincat remarked that “I am not like them; I am not that kind.”

Three days later, Vella returned to the cafe. They spoke for about three minutes and Brincat told him “give up, she does not want [the money].”

He recalled going for his coffee and not offering one to Vella. Eventually, then inspector Keith Arnaud questioned the witness, adding that probably it was his daughter informed the police.

He underlined that during the identification parade, he pointed at a person thinking he was the suspect and it turned out to be the inquiring magistrate. “To tell you the truth, I tried, I tried a lot recognising them,” Brincat said.

Under cross-examination, the witness said that he did not fight with Muscat and that he only went to see him once in prison.

He also confirmed that he did not know Vella. As the defence read out from Brincat’s previous testimony, it emerged that he had said “the person who said was called Jamie Vella, had a crew cut and was not fat.”

The witness added that he felt under interrogation when testifying before the inquiring magistrate, adding “I am not a criminal. But they fired questions at me. They even showed me photos but I did not recognise any one of them.”

Muscat is the key witness in the case against the bombers. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to the murder in what was a turning point for the investigation into Caruana Galizia’s October 2017 assassination.  

Times of Malta first reported details of the alleged hush money in an investigation in 2020.

Landlords testify

Vella and Agius are also charged along with two other men, George Degiorgio and Adrian Agius, over the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop in 2015.

During the trial, state witness Vince Muscat, had told the court that after lawyer Carmel Chircop was shot dead in October 2015, he, Degiorgio (iċ-Ċiniż) and Vella returned to a Santa Venera maisonette to change. The clothes were then placed in a garbage bag and disposed of near a school in the area.

The owner of that maisonette rented out to Jamie Vella took the witness stand on Monday morning.

She explained that she bought the property in 2015 and rented it out some time later to Vella and his partner through an agent. The apartment was rented out for a year but Vella asked to stay for more months after the contract expired.

Before reaching the property, they had stopped at a garage in Santa Venera where they left the stolen car allegedly used in the murder. Muscat also testified that the weapon used was hidden somewhere in the garage complex by either Vella or Degiorgio. The owner of the garage also testified on Monday.

Natal Azzopardi told the juors that a man purportedly called “Charlie Cassar” had contacted him to rent the garage in question. The garage was rented out from January 29, 2014 until July 28, 2018 with the last payment received on January 28, 2018.

The witness recalled that he met “Charlie” once. Once the rent was up, Azzopardi stuck a notice to the garage door asking the tenant to pay up. He later found out that the ID card did not match with a Charlie Cassar and when they went to the address provided, they found no one with that name.

Once he went to the garage and through the lock could see that a white car was parked inside. 

With regards to payment, the witness said that he used to get a call and asked where he was, and “Charlie’s uncle or friend” would turn up with the money. Once he got paid at Siġġiewi square while another time it was close to his field in the same village.

Under cross-examination, the witness said he only met “Charlie Cassar” once. He added that he does not recall and would not recognise the person who handed him the money since payment was every six months and he only got to see the person for a few minutes. The man added that he provided the payee with a receipt.

He also remembered a particular episode when the rent was up and was about to stick a notice on the door and instead found a notice which read “Call me on this number”. When he called, “Charlie” told him that his mobile fell into the sea and he could not call him to pay the rent.

The garage was allegedly also used to store the bomb used in Caruana Galizia’s murder when the three hitmen had spotted her going to Phoenicia Hotel.

Up next was Lawrence Pace, who is better known as il-Lolly. The witness has known Muscat since he was a child and remembers him working with a carpenter.

Pace explained that once Muscat asked him to join him on an errand, and they drove to Siġġiewi. This was before Caruana Galizia was murdered.

Muscat drove the witness to Siġġiewi and asked him to hand over the money to a man twice. On the second occasion, Pace remarked “why don’t you go yourself? Why are you sending me to pay [the other man]?” From that day, he never went with him again.

Pace said he was handed six €50 notes but was never told what that money was for. During his cross-examination, it emerged that Pace assumed Muscat was in debt with the person.

Asked if he recognised the witness who left the courtroom before him, Pace replied in the negative. The witness was the owner of the garage.

A police constable working at the Police Forensic lab also testified on Monday, explaining to the jurors he was asked to reconstruct a revolver which was found partially dismantled in a washing machine at Robert Agius' home.

Assistant Commissioner Malcolm Bondin testified about Adrian Agius’ arrest on December 4, 2017. Upon arrest Agius told him that he had just returned from a retreat in Sicily and had clothes in a garbage bag. According to the witness, Agius “looked normal”.

In his testimony, Bondin said they found a weapon in the garage. They also found a subwoofer which had its speaker removed and was filled with expanding foam. They also found an industrial compressor “cut” in a certain way which raised suspicions. However, they found no illicit substances.

The prosecutors also read out the testimony of Etienne Cassar, More Supermarket owner Ryan Schembri’s business partner. It previously emerged that the murdered lawyer held €600,000 debt deal linked to the More Supermarket owners. 

Cassar had testified about being involved in a business with Adrian Agius in Libya. In his testimony, Cassar had said that he met Chircop twice when they were trying to buy a warehouse in Ħal Qormi. The warehouse was needed for More Supermarkets, but was to be also used by Cassar and Schembri Ltd, and Agius had to develop the top floor into offices.

Cassar had said Chircop wanted €600,000 to assign his rights on the promise of sale for the warehouse valued at €2.3 million. However, Cassar, Schembri and Agius had entered into a constitution of debt with Chircop. Cassar had testified that he did not pay anything after signing the constitution of debt and was never asked to pay anything.

Schembri eventually absconded and Agius had spoken to Cassar once informing him that he was going to sue Chircop’s wife after the lawyer died. Under cross-examinations, Cassar had testified that Schembri and Agius had primarily negotiated with Chircop.

Madam Justice Edwina Grima is presiding.

Prosecutors Godwin Cini, Danika Vella and Anthony Vella are prosecuting on behalf of the AG Office.

Lawyers Alfred Abela and Rene Darmanin are assisting Robert Agius.Lawyers Noel Bianco and Leslie Cuschieri are assisting George Degiorgio.Lawyer Nicholas Mifsud is assisting Adrian Agius.Lawyers Ishmael Psaila and Amadeus Cachia are assisting Jamie Vella.Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia is assisting the Caruana Galizia family.Lawyer Vince Galea is assisting the Chircop family.

The trial continues on Tuesday.