Defence lawyers slam police investigations into lawyer Carmel Chircop's murder

 The police investigation into lawyer Carmel Chircop’s murder was full of “shortcuts” a defence lawyer told a panel of jurors on Monday.  

Leslie Cuschieri was making submissions in the trial of brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, better known as Ta-Maksar, along with associates Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio.

Robert Agius and Jamie Vella are accused of providing the bomb used to assassinate Caruana Galizia in October 2017.  George Degiorgio (and his brother Alfred) are already serving a 40-year sentence after admitting to placing the bomb under Caruana Galizia’s car and triggering it outside her Bidnija home.  

Adrian Agius is accused of commissioning the October 2015 hit on lawyer Carmel Chircop, which prosecutors allege was carried out with the complicity of his brother Robert, along with Jamie Vella and Degiorgio. 

They deny any wrongdoing.

On Monday, lawyer Nicholas Mifsud, assisting Adrian Agius, tried to poke holes in the investigation, arguing that no call logs belonging to former More Supermarket directors Etienne Cassar and Ryan Schembri were brought forward, and neither those pertaining to Jeffrey John Mallia, an individual with whom Chircop had done business with and with whom the lawyer had an issue.

Mifsud compared the Chircop investigation to that of Caruana Galizia, and said Mallia was not investigated sufficiently.  

Underlining that debt is inherited, Mifsud questioned Agius’ motive, pointing out that he still paid Chircop's widow €165,000 in an out-of-court settlement.

Mifsud also argued that key witness Vince Muscat, better known as il-Koħħu, could not be trusted with “something as simple” as a boat’s name let alone anything else. 

He observed that Transport Malta documents showed that the boat, which Muscat said he understood was Degiorgio’s payment for his role in the murder, was always called Maya, and this was unlike what the witness said that it was named after a labrador.

Lawyer Leslie Cuschieri appearing for George Degiorgio then took the floor and started off by urging jurors to avoid bias against his client and ignore media reports when deliberating on the case. He then started to outline what he called shortcomings in Chircop’s murder investigation. 

He referred jurors to CCTV footage obtained from John Borg Street, and noted that according to the prosecution a Ractis car was used in the murder. He noted that while Chircop usually went for his car at around 6:45am, the Ractis could be seen going into the garage complex just five minutes before the lawyer came in.

“If the prosecution’s theory holds any water, they acted like Speedy Gonzalez,” Cuschieri said.

He also referred to the CCTV footage where another person could be seen on foot and at one point a man with a dog could also be seen.

The lawyer criticised the court-appointed expert tasked with collecting the footage and asked why he did not collect footage from the area around the garage complex such as the narrow road behind the complex.

Cuschieri then showed a photo of the Ractis allegedly used in the murder, and recalled that Muscat could not recognise which car was used when shown a still image from the CCTV footage showing a school van, the Ractis and another car. 

The defence lawyer argued that the investigation did not delve into Chircop’s dealings, and from the widow’s testimony “it was clear that he did not involve his wife into what he was doing”.

Cuschieri then turned his focus on Agius’ statement to the police in 2015, stressing that the murder suspect provided the investigators with a lot of detail. Referring to Agius's statement, Cuschieri said the accused had mentioned “Ray tal-laħam” and another promise of sale agreement about a warehouse which Chircop allegedly entered into.

He claimed that the police left a “huge loophole” unaddressed, as he questioned whether the owners of the warehouse – Bonnici brothers – and Ray Grech known as “Ray tal-laħam” had been questioned.

Cuschieri also questioned whether the lawyer signed the constitution of debt behind Grech’s back.  

Vince Muscat's 'manouvres'

The lawyer then questioned why (police informant) Vince Muscat (il-Koħħu) decided to speak up two years after Chircop’s murder and after having participated in another murder - that of Caruana Galizia. 

“Before Muscat spoke to the police, there was no hope that the case [Chircop’s] would be solved,” Cuschieri said.

He claimed that Muscat was taking the jurors for a ride when he said that he regretted his involvement in the murders.

Comparing the key witness to Judas Iscariot, Cuschieri said that in the Bible, Judas left the bloodstained money in the temple before hanging himself.

“In this case, il-Koħħu fought for his share and did not refuse the money saying that they were stained with blood,” Cuschieri said.

The lawyer argued that Muscat’s regrets began after he ended up behind bars. Since then, he had manoeuvred to get out of prison.

Muscat first started by supplying information on who provided the bomb since the lead investigators were interested in that, and then moved to provide information on Chircop’s murder irrespective of whether the information was true or not.

The trial continues on Tuesday. Madam Justice Edwina Grima presided.

Prosecutors Godwin Cini, Danika Vella and Anthony Vella prosecuted.

Lawyers Alfred Abela and Rene Darmanin are appearing for Robert Agius, while lawyer Nicholas Mifsud is assisting Agius’ brother, Adrian.

Lawyers Noel Bianco and Leslie Cuschieri are appearing for George Degiorgio.

Lawyers Ishmael Psaila and Amadeus Cachia are assisting Jamie Vella.

Lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are assisting the Caruana Galizia family, while lawyer Vince Galea is assisting the Chircop family