'Military grade' TNT found at Daphne bomb site, post mortem details blast impact
Body of journalist was 'burnt beyond recognition', jury told
Traces of “military grade” TNT were recovered from the site of the car bomb explosion that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia, a court has heard, as experts also gave graphic details of the catastrophic impact of the blast.
Forensic explosives expert Daniel Vella testified that testing confirmed the presence of TNT, which is a powerful organic explosive commonly used in military applications.
Traces were found in samples taken from the car's floorbed and the crater left by the explosion.
"What we tried to do, is to find traces of the explosives - we are speaking about nanograms - around the vehicle and everywhere where this could have gone," he explained.
TNT, or trinitrotoluene, does not ignite with a naked flame and “needs a detonator”, he explained.
He also analysed three samples taken from a Mosta farmhouse linked to one of the accused, Jamie Vella, but no DNA or explosive traces were found on those exhibits.
Vella and Robert Agius (known as tal-Maksar) are charged with providing the bomb that killed the journalist on October 16, 2017.
Forensic expert Mario Scerri told the court that the assessment from the crime scene the day after the explosion was that the explosive was placed inside the car and not beneath it.
The roof of the car had “ballooned”, indicating internal placement, he told jurors, explaining that a detonation from below would have produced different damage patterns.
The grim impact of that explosion was described in harrowing detail by Scerri and forensic pathologists professor Marie Therese Camilleri and Dr Ali Safraz, who carried out the post-mortem four days after the journalist's death.
Her body was "burnt beyond recognition", Scerri said, adding that she had to be identified through DNA testing, with samples compared to her son Paul Caruana Galizia.
In court, to the sounds of sobbing from Caruana Galizia’s sisters, Camilleri confirmed that the cause of death was “blast injuries.”
Scerri shared photographs and x-ray evidence with the jury, who were warned about the graphic evidence they were being shown. Some jurors bowed their heads as they were told, and shown, how the remains were scattered across the scene, including a palm and parts of the skull.
The body was dismembered, charred, and in multiple parts, with the skull showing extensive fractures and the pelvis “split open.”
The right leg had been torn off and found near the vehicle. Shards of glass and brown metal were embedded in the neck. The internal organs, despite the blast, were mostly intact.
The registration plate was blown off and found separately, and the ignition key was retrieved from the road.
The case continues