Live blog: Yorgen Fenech had information about Daphne's laptop, court told
Keith Arnaud says Keith Schembri and Melvin Theuma never told police they knew each other
Defence lawyers representing Yorgen Fenech have continued cross-examining Keith Arnaud as Fenech's trial by jury for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia continues on Wednesday.
Arnaud, an assistant police commissioner, was the lead investigator in the case concerning the October 2017 murder.
Having spent two days testifying last week, Arnaud is now facing cross-examination by the defence. In a seven-hour sitting on Monday, defence lawyers sought to punch holes in the credibility of the investigation and motives of the case's star witness, murder middleman Melvin Theuma.
Trial day 2: Prosecutors make their case
Trial day 3: How police homed in on the hitmen
Trial day 4: A murder middleman names Yorgen Fenech
Trial day 5: Fenech, Keith Schembri and Joseph Muscat
Trial day 6: Arnaud cross-examined by defence
Refresh the page for the latest updates.
Live blog
Two-hour break
12.51pm The judge orders a break in proceedings. The hearing wil resume at 3pm.
Constable recalls crime scene panic
12.50pm A police constable who was among the first to the crime scene, PC Malcolm Cefai, testifies. He and his colleague tried to extinguish the exploded car using a fire extinguisher, but the flames were too strong.
Daphne’s son, Matthew, was there. He told them “my mum is in the car”.
A passer-by started taking photos of the scene. Matthew snatched the man’s phone and smashed it. He was panicked and “not in a good way at all,” the constable recalls.
The constable was at the scene from around 3pm until 9pm or 10pm.
The defence has no questions for this witness.
Defence asks about police patrols
12.42pm Defence lawyer Giannella De Marco asks if police used to patrol the area. The Superintendent says patrols happen everywhere.
De Marco: Who decides where to patrol?
Superintendent: The commissioner or assistant commissioner... officers higher in rank than inspectors. He presents paperwork showing police patrols on the day of the murder.
Superintendent Cilia is done testifying.
Jurors shown murder scene photos
12.35pm Jurors are shown various – graphic – photos of the explosion site taken by Rapid Intervention Unit police officers who responded to the emergency call.
The murder scene
12.26pm The superintendent recounts the scene of the crime: there were body parts, firefighters putting out the flames, a completely destroyed car and what looked like a small crater in the road.
One of the victim’s sons, Matthew Caruana Galizia, was arguing with another bystander who he accused of having taken a photo of his dead mother.
A bomb disposal squad came to the scene and police moved aside while they worked. The superintendent remained there until the inquiring magistrate (at the time Consuelo Scerri Herrera, now a judge) came to the scene.
Superintendent Antoine Cilia testifies
12.12pm The next witness is Police Superintendent Antoine Cilia.
He was working on the day when Caruana Galizia was killed. He walks the jury through events that day, starting with the moment when the call came in about an explosion in Bidnija.
Jury asks about Keith Schembri's phone
12.10pm A supplementary juror asks: Did you ask Keith Schembri where he was when his mobile went dead at 5am on November 26, 2019?
Arnaud: Yes, he said he was home all night. When we confronted him with that 5am usage, he claimed he had not used his phone all night. We found out Adrian Vella had also contacted him that night.
Supplementary juror: Is it normal for just two police officers to conduct a house search in such cases? Why didn’t you search his Castille office right away?
Arnaud: Many things happened all at once that night, starting from 8.30pm. We worked through the night and went to speak to Adrian Vella in the middle of the night. Then we moved to arrest Keith Schembri. Our team went to bed but Inspector Kurt Zahra and I decided to do I straight away. Yes, we could have searched the Castille office that day.
Supplementary juror: The documents we’ve been given show that some messages were deleted [as disappearing messages]. Did you see if you could retrieve any of them?
Arnaud: We rely on court experts for that. They can retrieve some messages, depending on the software used.
Supplementary juror: Did Keith Schembri’s version of events match the geolocation of his mobile phone?
Arnaud: A cellular tech engineer presented a report about that and it’s part of the evidence. It contains a map with a location pin showing the mobile’s last known location. It was in Mellieħa.
The judge intervenes to tell jurors they’ll be able to ask the experts such questions directly, when they testify.
Arnaud steps off the witness stand. He’s done testifying.
Jury asks about Adrian Vella letter
12.02pm Jury foreman: Did you ask Melvin why Keith Schembri wanted to calm him down?
Arnaud: Melvin says they didn’t try to calm him. He says [former OPM security official] Kenneth Camilleri told him that the hitmen were going to get bail… when they didn’t get it [bail] he was angry and spoke to Yorgen.
Jury foreman: Was the handwriting on the letter given to you by [Fenech’s lawyer] Gianluca Caruana Curran ever analysed and identified?
Arnaud: We did not. Adrian Vella told us he saw Yorgen scribble something on it. After we pressed charges against Yorgen, we asked the inquiring magistrate to appoint experts who could analyse the letter. They did that and reported their findings to the inquiry.
Jury asks about Theuma's phantom job
11.58am Jury foreman: Did Keith Schembri confirm that he got Theuma a job?
Arnaud: He confirmed that Melvin went to Castille close to election time, and said many people ask for favours around that time. He said he referred him to another person. He also said it was normal for people to ask to take a photo with him.
Jury foreman: Did Melvin say why he was given a job from Castille?
Arnaud: Theuma said that Yorgen Fenech had told him that someone at Castille would be speaking to him about a job. The moment he hung up the call with Yorgen, he got a call from Castille about the job. He said he didn’t need a job, because he ran a taxi service.
'He thought Keith and Yorgen wanted to shut him up'
11.52am The jury foreman asks: Did Theuma ever reveal how much money he was paid or kept for his role [in the murder]? That was one of the conditions of his pardon.
Arnaud: Yes, we did. Theuma said he never received anything and actually ended up losing money, because whenever Fenech was abroad he’d end up forking out money himself – like when Alfred Degiorgio bought fancy binoculars.
Jury foreman: Did you ask Theuma why he put that photo of himself with Keith Schembri in his box?
Arnaud: Yes, he said he put it there because he got it into his head that Keith Schembri and Yorgen Fenech wanted him eliminated. He kept saying he was the only person who could expose them. He considered both Keith and Yorgen to be extremely powerful. He was convinced they wanted to shut him up.
Case resumes
11.45am The judge and jury return. The hearing resumes, with jurors asking Arnaud questions.
Still in recess
11.30am Everyone is back in court, bar the judge and jury. We're still waiting for the hearing to resume.
Fenech knew Daphne's laptop was in Germany
10.15am Attorney General lawyer Godwin Cini asks Arnaud who has been charged with leaking confidential information about the murder investigation.
The judge tells Arnaud he cannot name names [as the leaks are subject to ongoing proceedings].
“I know a person was charged,” Arnaud says.
The prosecution asks Arnaud to tell the jury what Fenech said about Caruana Galizia’s laptop in one of Theuma’s recordings.
Arnaud: "Fenech told him that the family had not handed over the laptop, that they had taken it to Germany."
The judge orders a brief recess. The hearing will resume at 11am.
Jury has questions for Arnaud
10.10am The defence is done questioning Arnaud.
Before prosecutors take up questioning, the judge notes that jurors have indicated that they have some questions for the witness. They have also asked for copies of some of the documents exhibited.
There will be a section at the end of his testimony in which the jury foreman will ask Arnaud clarifying questions.
No 'deference' to Schembri
10am Arnaud says he used to communicate with Keith Schembri via WhatsApp. He no longer has his number, he says.
De Marco asks whether he ever felt any deference towards Schembri.
Arnaud: I spoke to him as the prime minister’s chief of staff.
De Marco proceeds to read out a text message exchange between Schembri and Johann Cremona [a business associate of Fenech’s who was also close to Schembri].
In it, Cremona tells Schembri that Arnaud wants them to testify.
“His mother [can testify],” Schembri replies. “We won’t let him. He was always fair with me [Ommu imma… ma nħalluħx iktar imma… dejjem raġel kien miegħi].
Arnaud says he’s always treated people well. “There are people serving life in prison who I’ve gone to visit because they wanted to speak to me. That’s the way to do things.”
Schembri and Theuma
9.45am Keith Schembri never told police that he knew Melvin Theuma – even when discussions turned to granting Theuma a presidential pardon, Arnaud confirms.
“Theuma never told us he knew Schembri personally, either,” he adds.
Schembri had denied sending anyone to calm Theuma down [a former OPM bodyguard has previously testified that he was sent to Theuma, by Schembri, to reassure a panicked Theuma].
De Marco asks Arnaud to confirm that Theuma had asked to speak to [then Opposition leader] Simon Busuttil after he was arrested.
Arnaud: "I never mentioned names, I said that he asked for a Nationalist lawyer. He asked for others. I can name them if you like."
De Marco changes tack.
Keith Schemrbri.'Daphne's son gave me everything'
9.38am Arnaud says, in reply to questions, that requests to extract data from phones belonging to Daphne Caruana Galizia, Yorgen Fenech, Keith Schembri and others were made by the inquiring magistrate, not the police.
He is asked about Caruana Galizia’s laptop.
“Whatever information we needed from the laptop, we got from the victim’s son,” Arnaud replies. “I needed information about the stories Daphne Caruana Galizia was working on, and he gave me everything.”
The 2015 plot
9.35am Arnaud confirms that police interrogated [former minister] Chris Cardona and two of his associates, known as Toni l-Biglee and Toni l-Iblaħ. They did not seize their phones, however.
De Marco recalls two of the hitmen claiming that Cardona had paid €50,000 to have Caruana Galizia killed back in 2015. Did the police interrogate them again after they testified that?
Arnaud says police did not, because the testimony was “riddled with inaccuracies”.
“We investigated every lead... the evidence doesn’t indicate that anyone other than those charged ws involved in this case,” he says.
De Marco: George Degiorgio claimed that [fellow hitman] Vince Muscat, Chris Cardona and [former police officer-turned-lawyer] David Gatt were all involved in both the 2015 and 2017 murder plots.
Arnaud: That’s totally incorrect. George himself confirmed that the €150,000 they received was in connection with the 2017 murder.
Commissioner leak fears
9.23am Defence lawyer Giannella De Marco’s first question of the day for Arnaud concerns former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar. Did the police seize his phone?
Arnaud says no, they did not. “There was an inquiry into leaks and we sought an investigation. We did not investigate it ourselves, for the sake of transparency. Inspector Kurt Zahra and I reported the suspected leaks to our superiors, but we did not conduct the investigation ourselves.”
[Cutajar, who served as police commissioner between 2016 and 2020, secretly met with a man linked to murder middleman Melvin Theuma ahead of Theuma's arrest. He claims he did this to try and get informaton about the case].
Court in session
9.16am The judge and jury have entered the courtroom. Assistant police commissioner Keith Arnaud is in the witness stand. The day's court hearing can begin.
What's happened so far?
8.52am It's the seventh day in this trial, which we expect will take several weeks, if not months, to conclude. We've included links to our reporting of each day's events at the top of this article, but here's the TL;DR version:
Prosecutors say Yorgen Fenech paid €150,000 to have Caruana Galizia killed. The case's star witness is Melvin Theuma, who says he passed that money from Fenech to the hitmen, and who subsequently recorded conversations he had with Fenech.
Fenech was arrested roughly two years after the murder, aboard his yacht as it sailed out of Portomaso marina.
He is pleading not guilty and has not testified in the case, but his lawyers have questioned Theuma's credibility and highlighted the role Keith Schembri played in the case. Schembri, an old friend of Fenech's, was also the chief of staff of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. He stands accused in a separate case of having revealed state secrets about the case [to Fenech].
Welcome
8.40am Good morning and welcome to this live blog. We'll be bringing you regular updates from proceedings in Hall 22 of the Valletta law courts throughout the day.
Today's court session is scheduled to begin at around 9am.