Former prime minister Joseph Muscat says he was with Keith Schembri when he first found out that Daphne Caruana Galizia had been killed in a bomb blast.

His assertion supports what his former chief of staff said while under oath on Monday. 

Schembri had testified in court this week that he had been with Muscat when he first got the news of the October 2017 explosion in Bidnija, just outside the Caruana Galizia home.  

Video evidence shows potential inconsistencies 

That account was however called into question by video footage from the day, which shows Muscat, then Economy Minister Chris Cardona and then Parliamentary Secretary Silvio Schembri at a press event in Sliema. 

A time-stamp on a video camera shown in the footage, where journalists were taking comments from Muscat, indicates the time being 3.13pm, October 16, 2017 – only minutes after the car bomb that killed Caruana Galizia exploded.

The Department of Information’s press conference advisory note of the day, which was sent out to all media houses, also confirms Muscat’s press engagement as having been at 2.30pm that day.

Footage of the press event is available online and was submitted as evidence on Wednesday in a public inquiry into Caruana Galizia's murder. 

Muscat's recollection of events 

Speaking on Tuesday, Muscat said that while he had received word of a blast in the Bidnija area, it was only once he was back at his office in Castille and with Schembri that he learnt that Caruana Galizia was the target. 

Muscat recalled how he had been in Sliema for a public event at around 2.30pm. Shortly after that event ended, at around 3.15pm, he said he had received a phone call from the Armed Forces about an explosion in the Burmarrad/ Bidnija neighbourhood.  

When I got to know that there had been a bomb I was in the car. When I got to know that she was the victim, we were together. - Joseph Muscat

He said there was no more information at that time, and he did not even know whether it was a car bomb or any other type of explosion.

'I called my wife Michelle'

“At that time I instinctively called two people; first I believe I called my wife, because that was her route to take my children to and from school - from Burmarrad through Bidnija, that’s where Michelle used to drive through with the kids, so I instinctively called her.

"And the second telephone call I made was to my father, because he has a fireworks factory in the Burmarrad neighbourhood,” he said.  

Schembri had mentioned Muscat's phone call to his father during his testimony on Monday. 

Muscat said that once he reached his Castille office, he joined Schembri and former government spokesman Kurt Farrugia.

"We received information that it was most likely that a bomb had targeted Daphne Caruana Galizia,” he said.  

“So when I got to know that there had been a bomb I was in the car, when I got to know that she was the victim, we were together.” 

What Schembri said

Testifying on Monday, Schembri had said he had received a telephone call from then Mater Dei hospital chief Ivan Falzon, who told him of an explosion in Burmarrad.

Schembri went on to recall Muscat calling his father and then said that soon after, a further call had indicated that the explosion was caused by a bomb and that the victim was likely Caruana Galizia.

The former OPM chief of staff said the news had left him "glued to his seat".