Yorgen Fenech, the chief suspect in the Daphne Caruana Galizia investigation had told police before his first request for a pardon was rejected that he felt “betrayed” by then chief of staff Keith Schembri and he expressed “trust” in the police, chief investigator Keith Arnaud told a court on Wednesday. 

“Għandi fiducja fikom!” (I have confidence in you) Arnaud, reading from his own notes, quoted Fenech as saying, prompting a heated reaction by Fenech who waved a finger at him, saying “Mhu veru xejn! Qed tigdeb!” (This is not true at all, you are lying). 

The exchange took place as Arnaud testified in a tense, three-hour sitting.

The case revolves around Yorgen Fenech’s bid to have Superintendent Arnaud kicked off the probe into the 2017 car bomb that killed Caruana Galizia outside her Bidnija home.

Proceedings had reached judgment stage last year but the case was reappointed to allow further evidence to be heard, particularly in light of developments in the ongoing murder proceedings and other relevant testimonies that emerged.

As the constitutional case entered its final phase, Fenech’s lawyers sought and obtained permission to cross-examine Arnaud on testimony he had given in the murder compilation about conversations he had with the suspect for the purpose of securing a presidential pardon.

That testimony had been given behind closed doors.

For that reason, Fenech’s lawyers today objected to Arnaud’s cross-examination  in open court.

But Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff questioned the utility of any testimony given behind closed doors when it could ultimately be referred to in the judgment, that is public. He thus allowed the questioning to proceed in open court.

Meetings at Castille

Asked about his meetings at Castille in relation to the murder probe, Arnaud confirmed meetings in the middle and last week of November, 2017, with other sessions following throughout 2018 and 2019.

In 2017 former deputy Commissioner Silvio Valletta attended, but he was later replaced by former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar, explained Arnaud.

Former PM Joseph Muscat and Keith Schembri were present at such meetings regularly.

On other singular occasions then Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, former Attorney General Peter Grech, former deputy prime minister Louis Grech and government spokesman Kurt Farrugia were also present.

Arnaud had also once attended a Cabinet meeting in 2019, at a time when both Fenech and Schembri were arrested.

‘Principal subjects of Caruana Galizia's investigative reporting’

Arnaud said the Caruana Galizia family had compiled a document containing information about stories which the journalist had been working on at the time she was murdered, naming several persons of interest.

Arnaud said that document was handed to him and he, in turn, had presented it to the magistrate conducting the murder inquiry.

Among those ‘principal subjects’, Keith Schembri had featured in eight or nine ongoing investigations by the journalist, while Chris Cardona featured in five and Owen Bonnici featured in one.

Asked about the journalist’s missing personal laptop, Arnaud said that he had spoken to the inquiring magistrate to do everything necessary to gather that device, while trying to make up for its absence by gathering information from the family.

Daphne’s husband and sons had told investigators about stories she had been working on, said Arnaud, adding that after all, her stories “were public knowledge.”

Meanwhile, the Castille meetings continued, observed Fenech's lawyer Charles Mercieca, questioning why the police had not acted immediately in pursuing the subjects indicated by the victim’s family.

However,  Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff, pointed out that there was a distinction between criminal and journalistic investigations.

Asked whether the police had regularly updated the former prime minister, Arnaud said that they only informed him about agreement on the way forward and continuous support from Europol, without revealing any information about the investigations.

And Muscat had said that it was important for Europol to continue with their support.

Asked whether he used to communicate with Keith Schembri, Arnaud replied in the affirmative.

But those WhatsApp messages, like others concerning different persons, had since been deleted.

Yorgen’s pre-pardon version

Arnaud said that when first interrogated by police, Fenech had said that Melvin Theuma was implicating Schembri because he knew that he and the former chief of staff were friends.

By implicating Schembri, Theuma sought to implicate Castille and thus threatened to bring down the government unless granted a pardon, Fenech had told his interrogators.

On the other hand, Theuma was telling police that he could not declare under oath that Schembri was involved in the murder.

Thus both Fenech and Theuma were corroborating the position regarding Schembri, Arnaud explained.

However, the scenario changed after Fenech’s second pardon request was turned down.

Yorgen Fenech felt 'betrayed' by Keith Schembri

Reading out from handwritten notes scribbled while speaking to Fenech before that pardon rejection, Arnaud quoted the businessman saying that he felt “betrayed” by Schembri and expressing “trust” in the police.

“Għandi fiducja fikom!” (I have confidence in you) Arnaud read, prompting a heated reaction by Fenech who waved a finger at the witness, saying “Mhu veru xejn! Qed tigdeb!” (This is not true at all, you are lying)

Yet Arnaud stressed that several times throughout those conversations with the suspect, Fenech stated, “Din il-verita’ tieghi.” (This is my truth)

“I gave Melvin no order to kill her,” Fenech had also told police, whilst claiming that he was being “blackmailed” by Theuma.

Those early conversations had not been recorded audio-visually at the request of Fenech’s lawyers, Arnaud explained, and he only had his own handwritten notes to consult.

Vince Muscat did not implicate anyone in the government

Arnaud also said that Vince Muscat, il-Koħħu,(who has admitted his involvement in the murder) had never implicated any person in government but had only named the middleman, Theuma.

As for Cardona, Arnaud said he had investigated at length information about Cardona being spotted with one of the alleged hitmen at a Siġġiewi bar and investigations were still ongoing.

Cutajar and il-Ġojja

The team working on the murder probe had not known about the former commissioner’s meeting with Edwin Brincat, il-Ġojja.

The two had allegedly met to discuss a parking ticket but subsequently it emerged that Cutajar had sought to track down Theuma’s secret recordings through Brincat.

“We got to know through intercepts. Had we known, we would have weighed the situation very carefully,” Arnaud said. 

Keith Schembri's arrest

Questioned on the first arrest of Keith Schembri in November 2019 and whether the former chief of staff had been given prior notice, Arnaud replied 'definitely not'. He said the police had been working on the investigation and Schembri's name cropped up. First they arrested Adrian Vella a doctor who was a mutual friend of Fenech and Schembri. After Vella was interrogated, the police decided to proceed with arresting Schembri in his Mellieħa home. They had some problems finding the house, but a woman, out of her own volition on seeing them, directed them. This was in the early morning.

Asked about Schembri's phone, Arnaud said the police did not initially seize any devices, but later that day a forensic team seized other mobiles, but not Schembri's. That was never found.   

Arnaud also confirmed that Schembri's office was never searched.

Asked about leaks from the murder probe, Arnaud insisted that the investigation was being handled by another police squad. And a magisterial inquiry was still ongoing.

Concluding the sitting, Mr Justice Mintoff summed up the issues of the case saying that the crucial question was: Did the police conduct a 360° investigation or did they only focus only on Fenech? All questions put to Arnaud were to be viewed in that light.

The case was put off for judgment in November.

Lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran, Charles Mercieca and Marion Camilleri assisted Fenech.

State Advocate Chris Soler and lawyer Maurizio Cordina represented the respondents.