Updated 7.20pm
Hitmen who killed Daphne Caruana Galizia originally planned to shoot her in the summer of 2017 but had to postpone that plan after one of the killers got cold feet, a court heard on Friday.
Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, said he and the two other hitmen had to wait from June to October until Robert Agius and Jamie Vella got them a bomb instead of the rifle they initially planned to use.
That original plan – to shoot Caruana Galizia through a window while she sat at a desk at her house – was abandoned because George Degiorgio was not comfortable with it, Muscat said.
He and Degiorgio were very familiar with the Bidnija area where Caruana Galizia lived because they had already scoped it out years before, when they were first tapped to kill the journalist.
That first plan dated back to 2014 or 2015 and Muscat was told that then-minister Chris Cardona was behind it. Cardona’s associate David Gatt was reportedly the middleman, Muscat testified.
Muscat’s testimony, which is due to continue on Saturday, forms a key part of the trial by jury of four men facing charges linked to Caruana Galizia’s murder and that of lawyer Carmel Chircop.
His hours-long testimony was briefly interrupted due to a brief power cut in the law courts building in Valletta. It quickly resumed when power was restored.
'Like a cup of tea'
Two of those defendants are Agius brothers Robert and Adrian, known as Ta' Maksar. Muscat said he felt he could “not say no” to them, because they were dangerous men who talked about serious matters “as though they were drinking a cup of tea”.
The other two defendants are Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio. All four are pleading not guilty to charges.
Muscat told the jury that the original plan to kill Caruana Galizia went nowhere and a planned €50,000 deposit was never paid.
A few years later, the job was back on. This time, it was commissioned by self-confessed murder middleman Melvin Theuma, who has testified that he was acting on behalf of businessman Yorgen Fenech.
Muscat recalled driving Alfred Degiorgio to meetings with Theuma at a café in Ta’ Xbiex, where a €30,000 deposit was paid. The murder plans were put on hold for a few weeks to allow the 2017 general election to pass, he said.
Spying on Caruana Galizia
The hitmen spent entire days spying on Caruana Galizia and her movements, following her to her favourite Naxxar café and even the airport when she was going abroad to attend her son’s wedding.
As they waited for the bomb, Alfred Degiorgio agreed to speak to Chris to try and get more information on Caruana Galizia.
Muscat said Degiorgio told him that the then-minister warned him that another group of people were out to kill her and were to be paid €150,000. “Alfred Degiorgio replied to him and told him ‘no, that’s referring to us’,” Muscat testified.
Degiorgio told Muscat he suspected Cardona got that information from Silvio Valletta, who at the time was police deputy commissioner.
When the bomb was finally procured, it was delivered in a small shoebox. “It was two inches high and around 4-5 inches wide. It was sort of silver or stainless steel and had a switch, wires and a sort of mobile,” he said.
Maksar debt to Chircop
Earlier in the day, Muscat testified in detail about the Chircop murder, describing how it was commissioned and carried out within a matter of weeks.
He recalled the Maksar brothers wanting Chircop dead because of an “€800,000 debt” they owed him, and said he felt he could not refuse their request because they spoke about serious things “like it was a cup of tea”.
Chircop’s wife testified in the case on Thursday and recalled her husband speaking to the Agius brothers about money he was owed.
Muscat – who was given a pardon to testify about Chircop’s assassination - said he was paid €20,000 for his part in the murder but claimed he did little other than accompany Degiorgio and Vella during the hit. Degiorgio drove the getaway car while Vella shot Chircop multiple times as he opened his Birkirkara garage early in the morning, Muscat said.
“Jamie Vella started shooting him. I turned away and didn’t look. I heard the shots, and then we kept going,” Muscat testitied.
The three used a stolen car that was kept at a garage in Santa Venera, with Jamie Vella supplying the murder weapon – a revolver. They disposed of the gun a few days later in Marsa, Muscat said.
Degiorgio's boat purchase
Muscat told the court that Degiorgio did not demand payment for his role in Chircop’s murder, but that some time after it was carried out he pressured Robert Agius to pay him €30,000, which he then used to purchase a boat he named ‘Maya’.
Degiorgio is currently serving a 40-year prison sentence after admitting to being one of three hitmen who placed and detonated the bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia.
The SMS command used to detonate the Caruana Galizia bomb was sent from the Maya while it was out at sea.
Degiorgio’s brother, Alfred, is also serving a 40-year jail sentence for that crime. Muscat is serving 15 years as part of a plea deal struck with prosecutors.
AS IT HAPPENED
Case adjourned
6.03pm The prosecution asks for testimony to be suspended for today. The court agrees. The case will continue on Saturday at 9am.
Adding petrol to the bomb
6pm One of the Degiorgios worried that the bomb’s battery would die. But Muscat says he overheard Robert Agius reassuring him that it would never go flat, provided the device was off.
“The bomb was in Alfred Degiorgio’s hands and I heard them discussing it and its battery,” Muscat says.
Alfred Degiorgio also got a small water bottle filled with petrol and strapped it to the bomb. The intention was to increase its potency and damage, he says.
What the bomb looked like
5.45pm George Degiorgio told them that Robert Agius and Jamie Vella would be supplying three bombs, Muscat says.
George wanted a powerful bomb – one that weighed between 300g and 500g and of the sort used in quarries.
Muscat describes first seeing the bomb, which was left for them under an upside-down boat at the potato shed inside a shoebox.
They took the box to the Naxxar garage and opened it there.
“It was two inches high and around 4-5 inches wide. It was sort of silver or stainless steel and had a switch, wires and a sort of mobile. I know that Alfred Degiorgio inserted a chip, flicked a switch and if I recall correctly, a red bulb marked that it was ‘on’.”
A wedding abroad
5.37pm The hitmen’s surveillance of Caruana Galizia continued.
Once, Alfred Degiorgio got wind that she was going abroad. They followed her to the airport and saw her there, with a massive suitcase.
“Alfred told us he thought she was moving away for good, because he had never seen a suitcase that big,” Muscat said. “We later got to know that she was going to her son’s wedding.”
A lift from Toni l-Iblaħ
5.30pm Muscat says that on one occasion when he drove Degiorgio to Valletta, Degiorgio told him there was no need to pick him up because a man known as Toni l-Iblaħ would give him a lift back.
Toni l-Iblaħ worked at a ministry as a messenger, Muscat says, and sometimes came to the Marsa potato shed. He does not know which ministry and never saw him with Cardona, he specifies.
Muscat says he knew Cardona but had not spoken to him in years. Cardona was his lawyer before being made a minister, he explains.
Chris Cardona asked around, Muscat says
5.27pm The hitmen then waited from June until October for Jamie Vella and Robert Agius to bring them a bomb.
Muscat says George Degiorgio suggested speaking to Chris Cardona to get some more information about Caruana Galizia and her movements.
Muscat said he thought that was a good idea, and Alfred Degiorgio agreed to ask the minister for a meeting.
“I used to drop him off at the roundabout [near Castille] and didn’t hear more about it,” Muscat says. He says he dropped Alfred Degiorgio off there around three times.
Muscat recalls Alfred Degiogio telling him that Cardona had promised to make some inquiries. He eventually told Degiorgio that there was another group of hitmen who was to be paid €150,000 to kill Caruana Galizia, Muscat recalls Degiorgio telling him.
“Alfred Degiorgio replied to him and told him ‘no, that’s referring to us’.”
Pressure from Melvin Theuma
5.15pm Melvin Theuma was putting a lot of pressure on them to get it done, Muscat says, and even showing up at the Marsa potato shed despite Alfred Degiorgio telling him not to do that.
Alfred Degiorgio then showed him [Theuma] their vantage spot, to show him that they were working on it.
Muscat says he thinks Theuma was being pressured, and therefore pressured them.
The prosecution asks who was pressuring Theuma.
“I have no idea,” Muscat replies.
At one point, they had to dump all their burner phones because Theuma’s young son had started dialling from it, compromising them.
Abandoning the rifle plan
5.12pm The prosecution continues questioning where it left off before the break.
Muscat describes preparing the spot from where they planned on shooting Caruana Galizia. It was very close to her window, roughly 5 metres away.
He also describes how the rifle plan was abandoned.
George Degiorgio dropped Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat off close to the Caruana Galizia family home, then drove back to the garage. The plan was for him to return with the stolen car. Muscat and Alfred Degiorgio would enter the farmhouse when he was close by.
But George Degiorgio got cold feet. He told his brother there were road block and lots of traffic, Muscat testifies.
So the plan was dropped, George Degiorgio came back for them, picked them up and they left their things at the Naxxar garage.
At that point, the plan was switched: they would get a bomb from the Maksar brothers to kill her, he says.
Dropping Degiorgio off at Castille
4.58pm The court hearing resumes. Muscat wants to add a few words about his previous testimony. He recalls dropping one of the Degiorgio brothers off at the little roundabout close to Castille in Valletta.
“He told me he was going to see Chris Cardona. I left and then went back to pick him up when he called me,” Muscat says.
The first murder plan
4.32pm Muscat explains the murder plan: George Degiorgio would drive them in a stolen vehicle to the farmhouse close to the Caruana Galizia family residence.
He [Vince Muscat] would get out and open the gate. Alfred Degiorgio would aim and fire, resting the rifle on a low wall they had set up for stability. George Degiorgio would then drive them away.
The court calls a 15-minute break.
Planning to shoot her from farmhouse
4.15pm This time round, the original plan was to shoot Caruana Galizia dead while she was seated at her desk at home. They planned on using a rifle with a scope, from a spot in a nearby farmhouse which gave them a clear line of sight.
Robert Agius and Jamie Vella provided the hitmen with three rifles to choose from, Muscat says, leaving the guns at a garage they owned in Naxxar.
Muscat says he did not see the two placing the weapons there – George Degiorgio told him that Robert Agius and Jamie Vella had left them there for them. Two of the rifles were old, so they picked the third.
Spying on Daphne
4.02pm There’s a brief interruption in Muscat’s testimony, to fix his microphone.
Muscat then continues to recall the prep work before the murder. They already knew where Caruana Galizia lived, having scouted the area when talk of killing her was first floated a few years back.
Alfred Degiorgio was in prison at the time, he recalls.
This time round, surveillance intensified. They’d spend all day, from 5 or 6am until nighttime, monitoring Caruana Galizia’s movements. They found three separate vantage points from where they could observe her house, and bought a pair of high-powered binoculars from Forestals to use for that surveillance work.
They also followed her to a café in Naxxar – the same café the other murder victim, Carmel Chircop, used to frequent.
They each had “€20” burner phones which they obtained from a mobile phone store with no cameras. At first, they used a “big and grey” Peugeot which was rented from a man in Luqa. But the car was too big and unwieldy and they swapped it for a smaller white one, he said.
Why was Daphne killed?
3.45pm Muscat is asked why Caruana Galizia was going to be killed.
“Because she was going to publish very important information. That’s all I know,” he says.
After the election, the hitmen bought two cheap burner phones. One went to Theuma and the other to Alfred Degiorgio, so the two could communicate.
They met again at Busy Bee after the election, and Theuma had the deposit money as agreed. The hitmen got €10,000 each.
'Melvin Theuma has work for us'
3.40pm
A few years went by. In 2017, talk about killing Caruana Galizia resurfaced.
Again, Muscat first heard of it at the Marsa potato shed.
It was just two or three weeks before the 2017 general election, and Alfred Degiorgio [George’s brother] approached him.
“Cens, Melvin Theuma came by and has some work for us, we need to go speak to him,” he recalls Degiorgio telling him.
Muscat says he knew Theuma. At the time, they did not know what the “work” entailed. [Theuma has testified that he served as a middleman between the hitmen and businessman Yorgen Fenech, who is being tried in a separate case.]
Alfred Degiorgio eventually spoke to Theuma and then told Muscat: “Do you know what he wants? Us to get rid of Ms Caruana Galizia”.
They decided to charge €150,000 for the job, with €30,000 as a deposit.
Muscat says he drove Degorgio to the Busy Bee cafe in Msida and waited for him in the car. Degiorgio met with Theuma and they settled on the price. A few days later, after a second Busy Bee meeting, Theuma reportedly told Degiogio to hold off on the murder "until after the election".
Plan went nowhere
3.33pm The plan went nowhere, Muscat says, and the deposit was never paid.
The AK-47 murder plan
3.30pm Jamie Vella had a farmhouse on the outskirts of Mosta, a few minutes’ drive away from the Caruana Galizia family home, Muscat says.
It was Vella who showed them where the journalist and her family lived.
Muscat says he and Degiorgio spent a couple of days keeping watch, to try and observe her movements. But they saw no one and decided to take a closer look, as it seemed they were abroad or away.
The plan at the time was for George Degiorgio to drive the getaway car with Jamie Vella and himself [Muscat[ in a separate van behind him.
Degiogio would block Caruana Galizia, and Vella would open fire using an AK-47 rifle.
Chris Cardona and David Gatt
3.20pm Muscat is asked who wanted Caruana Galizia killed.
"He [Degiorgio] always mentioned Chris Cardona," he says. [Cardona, a former Labour MP, was Economy Minister at the time].
Muscat says they agreed on a price - €150,000 - to split between himself, Degiorgio and Vella. He and Degiorgio spent some time spying on Caruana Galizia and her movements around Bidnija [where she lived].
Lawyer [and former police inspector] David Gatt served as a middleman, Muscat says, and asked to pass on a €50,000 deposit for the murder.
Muscat is asked where he saw Gatt.
"He'd often come to the potato shed," he says. "Sometimes for a coffee, sometimes for a chat."
The Daphne murder
3.20pm The case resumes, and the prosecution steers questioning to the second murder - that of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
He says he first heard talk about killing Caruana Galizia "between 2014 and 2015." It was George Degiorgio who mentioned it, saying he [Degiogio] and Jamie Vella were involved.
Court on break till 3pm
1.10pm The judge has ordered a two-hour recess. We will be back soon.
Degiorgio buys a boat
1.07pm Muscat then recalls being out for lunch in Ta’ Xbiex with Degiorgio and a few others, some time later [Muscat later recalls the name of that restaurant, Mamma Mia]. George Degiorgio saw a boat for sale and spoke to its owner. He then called Robert Agius and spoke to him angrily over the phone, demanding €30,000.
“He was arguing with him on the phone and even insulted him,” he says. Muscat says he then understood that Degiorgio wanted this as payment.
Agius eventually showed up with the money and Degiorgio bought the boat, naming it ‘Maya’ after his Labrador, Muscat says.
Degiorgio 'didn't charge them any money'
1.03pm Muscat says George Degiorgio told him he (Degiorgio) was not going to charge the Maksar brothers any money for the Chircop murder.
The prosecution asks why.
“Because he got something else in return,” Muscat says.
Getting paid for the murder
1pm Muscat says he was paid €20,000 in total, with €5,000 being paid beforehand as a deposit. He was paid a further €10,000 a day or two after the murder, with George Degiogio handing him the money.
Degiorgio told him to meet Robert Agius in Buġibba to receive the outstanding €5,000. Muscat says he met Agius close to the Suncrest hotel and received the rest of the money.
'I couldn't tell these people no'
12.57pm It took just a few weeks to plan the murder and kill Chircop, Muscat says.
“I couldn’t tell these people no, definitely not,” he says of the Maksar brothers. Why not, the prosecution asks.
“They used to talk about everything and tell me certain things. They’d talk about things as though they were having a cup of tea,” he says.
Dumping the murder weapon
12.48pm The plan was to hide the murder weapon in the Santa Venera garage complex and then return a few days later to throw it away near Tiger Bar in Marsa, “because there’s a lot of silt (ħama) there”, Muscat testifies.
Muscat says the three of them had returned to the Santa Venera garage a few days later, collected the gun and drove to Marsa. They drove to near the slaughterhouse.
Jamie Vella got out of the car holding the gun wrapped in a cloth, and threw it away in the silt, Muscat testifies.
Vella was also meant to dispose of the getaway car, but Muscat says he does not know much about that.
Disposing of their clothes
12.40pm At the apartment, Vella took a shower to get rid of any gunshot residue. Degiorgio and Muscat both changed clothes.
They placed the used clothes in a garbage bag that they then dumped near the Santa Venera school, at a spot where many garbage bags were left for collection. They dumped it at 8.30am or 9am, he says.
Muscat says he then drove Degiorgio to his car in Ħamrun and they parted ways.
Switching cars
12.35pm Muscat recalls hearing “definitely more than four shots”. And then they made their getaway, driving out of Birkirkara, through Hamrun to get back to the Santa Venera garage. Muscat says they removed the balaclavas at some point during the drive, but he and Jamie Vella stayed low in the back seats throughout.
Once back at the Santa Venera garage, they left the getaway vehicle there and got back into Muscat’s car. Someone hid the murder weapon in the garage complex, but Muscat says he cannot recall if it was George Degiorgio or Jamie Vella.
They all left together, in Muscat’s car, and drove to Jamie Vella’s nearby apartment.
'Jamie started shooting... I turned away'
12.18pm Once at the Birkirkara garage complex, Jamie Vella got out of the car to keep a lookout for Chircop arriving.
At one point he spotted him, hopped back in the car and told them “he’s coming”.
George Degiogio started up the car and drove it down into the complex, parking it against a wall in front of Chircop’s garage.
When Chircop arrived, he was holding a work bag. He put it down to open the garage. Degiorgio turned the car around, for Jamie Vella to be right in front of him. Chircop had opened one panel of the garage door.
“He was just a few feet away,” Muscat says. “Jamie Vella started shooting him. I turned away and didn’t look. I heard the shots, and then we kept going.”
Getting to Birkirkara
12.10pm When they left the Santa Venera garage it was around 5.30am, Muscat says. He and Jamie Vella wore black balaclavas with three holes - eyes and mouth. They were sitting in the back seats.
The car had tinted glass on its back windscreen, meaning people could only see one person – the driver – in it. George Degiorgio, who drove the car, wore a cap and had a handkerchief to cover his mouth. The car’s sun visor was pulled down.
The day of the murder
12pm The court sitting resumes.
Muscat is asked why they picked that particular day (October 8, 2015) to kill Chircop.
"I don't know, your honour," he replies.
On the day, Muscat picked up George Degiorgio at around 5am using his car. They then drove to Santa Venera, picked up Jamie Vella and drove to the garage in that same town where the getaway car was stored. One of them - Muscat can't recall who - had collected the garage key from the Marsa potato shed beforehand.
The weapons were already in that car, he says.
The murder weapon
11.13am Jamie Vella had a “big” revolver with a cylinder holding “five or six bullets”. The plan was to use that, to ensure no empty casing was left behind at the murder scene, Muscat says.
George Degiorgio had an automatic pistol as well as an AK-47 rifle “just in case”.
On the day of the murder, the AK-47 was in the car, resting between the front and back seats.
Muscat says he first saw the rifle at Jamie Vella’s farmhouse close to Mosta. There was a field close by and he recalls they had fired the rifle into the soil there. To the best of his knowledge, Jamie Vella and Robert Agius had brought the guns over from Sicily, smuggling them onto the catamaran. Muscat says the two had discussed that in his presence.
The court takes a short break. Muscat will continue testifying when proceedings resume.
Paying rent on the garage
11am Muscat testifies about the Santa Venera garage. He describes its location in detail and says its key was kept at the Marsa potato shed. At one point, it was leased in his name, Muscat says.
George Degiorgio was renting the garage, but Muscat says that at one point he asked him (Muscat) to start delivering the rental money to the landlord.
Muscat said that he did not pay the landlord himself directly. Instead, he would receive the money from Degiorgio, then pick up Larence Pace from Hamrun, known as Lolly, who he knew. And Pace would pay the landlord the garage rent (around €300 every six months), using money Degiogio had given to Muscat.
Muscat recalls the area around the garage being full of CCTV cameras.
[Correction: A previous version incorrectly stated that Pace was receiving rental money for the garage]
'Jamie had the guts to shoot'
10.42am The hitmen jointly planned the route they would take from Santa Venera to Birkirkara, choosing roads that were light on traffic.
A prosecutor asks Muscat who decided how Chircop was to be killed.
“Jamie had the guts to shoot him,” Muscat replies. And the capability, the prosecutor prompts.
“He had the capability to shoot,” Muscat confirms.
The murder plan
10.35am Muscat details the murder plan: they would catch Chircop as he opened the garage early in the morning, as he prepared to go to work. George Degiorgio would be driving the car. He was to drive up to Chircop’s garage.
Vella would be seated in the back seat, behind the driver. He was to open the car window, reach out and shoot Chircop. Then they would drive away.
Muscat was to sit on the backseat next to Jamie Vella. “In reality I didn’t do anything there, it was Jamie Vella who did it,” he testifies.
The getaway vehicle
10.31am Muscat says the getaway car they intended to use was a stolen one that was stored in a Santa Venera garage. He’s not sure what make, model or colour it was.
Muscat recalls driving George Degiorgio and Jamie Vella to the Santa Venera garage, taking the stolen car and driving it from there to the garage complex.
He also describes the three of them working to establish which garage in the Birkirkara complex was Chircop’s. Degiorgio had parked the car right up against a wall and opened the window to be able to hear Chircop open or close the garage. Vella had gotten out of the car to see Chircop arrive.
Spying on Chircop
10.14am They initially did not know about the Birkirkara garage where Chircop was eventually shot dead, and instead focused their attention on Chircop’s office in Valletta.
Muscat recalls them spying on Chircop and his wife while they ate at a restaurant on the Vittoriosa waterfront. They had watched him and then driven off in Adrian Agius’ car, Muscat recalls. They had also spied on Chircop at a Naxxar cafe he frequented. Muscat remembers Adrian Agius being there, but cannot recall who else was with him on that occasion.
Chircop had an old Mercedes Benz, which they did not see parked anywhere near his house in Birkirkara, and that prompted the hitmen to think he had a garage, Muscat says.
Muscat describes the garage’s location in a Birkirkara alleyway that leads to an entire complex of garages.
The murder motive
9.59am Muscat is asked if he knew why the Maksar brothers wanted Chircop dead.
“Because Adrian [Agius] had a problem with Carmel Chircop over some €800,000,” he says.
Muscat says he knew Robert Agius but was less familiar with Adrian.
Muscat says Adrian Agius was especially keen to have Chircop killed and would pull him [Muscat] aside and tell him “Cens, come on let’s get it over and done with”.“I’d tell him he needed to speak to George [Degiorgio] and Jamie [Vella],” he recalls.
The Chircop hit job
9.55am Muscat’s testimony begins with his recollections about Chircop’s October 2015 murder.
He recalls first discussing the hit in September, during a meeting he had at a potato shed in Marsa where he hung out every day.
“George Degiorgio told me that the Maksar brothers will be coming to tell us something,” Muscat recalls. “George already knew that they wanted to get rid of the lawyer Carmel Chircop.”
The brothers showed up and the men discussed that plan. They promised to pay him €20,000, Muscat says, and said Jamie Vella would also join him [Muscat] and Degiorgio to carry out the hit.
Koħħu apologises
9.46am Muscat has been called in to testify. We’ve also spotted daughter Kristy, who is a lawyer, in the courtroom.
Muscat takes an oath and is reminded of his duty to tell the whole truth when testifying.
He asks to say a few words: "I'd like to apologise to the families for all that happens," he says.
Welcome
9.40am Good morning and welcome to this live blog. We're at the Valletta law courts for what is arguably one of the most important days in this trial.
Vincent Muscat il-Koħħu is the prosecution's star witness, and the case against the four defendants hinges in large part on information he divulged as part of a deal he struck with prosecutors some years back.