Brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio are likely to represent themselves in their impending trial over the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, after they failed to secure a new lawyer to defend them.

The Degiorgio brothers stand charged with carrying out the October 2017 car bombing that killed the journalist. They deny the charges.

Their accomplice, Vince Muscat, known as Il-Koħħu, admitted to his role in the bombing last year, in exchange for a reduced sentence of 15 years in prison.

The brothers ended up without someone to represent them in court after their lawyer, William Cuschieri, notified Judge Edwina Grima that he would no longer be acting for them in the murder case.

Sources close to the case told Times of Malta that the Degiorgios then approached numerous lawyers, among them top criminal lawyers, who all turned them down.

Times of Malta spoke to some of those lawyers who confirmed they had been approached. When asked why they had turned down the brief, they admitted the primary reason was that they did not want to have anything to do with the case that traumatised the nation.

Another reason was reluctance to take on the brief so late in the criminal proceedings, especially when one of the brothers, George Degiorgio, sensationally admitted to carrying out the hit during an interview on the Who Killed Daphne? podcast.

He also implicated his brother, leaving any defence lawyer with very little room to manoeuvre, the lawyers said.

Sources said the Degiorgios had informed the court they were unable to find a lawyer of their choice so Madam Justice Grima appointed legal aid lawyers Simon Micallef Stafrace and Martin Matthew Farrugia to represent them.

If I knew, I would have gone for €10 million, not €150,000- George Degiorgio

But the Degiorgios complained it was not the two that they wanted to appoint.

The judge told them there was very little the court could do in the circumstances except appoint lawyers who would be paid by the state.

Sources said that at least one of the brothers said he would defend himself during the trial, with the other expected to follow suit.

The legal aid lawyers will be present just in case their legal assistance is required at any point, especially since neither of the Degiorgios is accustomed to legal procedure.

During the interview with Reuters in July, George Degiorgio admitted frankly that the assassination was “just business” and insisted he had no intention of “going down alone” for the murder.

Degiorgio said, during the interview, that had he known who Caruana Galizia was, he would have asked for more money.

“If I knew, I would have gone for €10 million, not €150,000,” he said, referring to the sum paid to him to murder the journalist. He later added: “Of course I feel sorry.”

Degiorgio indicated that he would provide testimony to implicate others in the murder, as well as a separate plot to kill the journalist that ended up being called off.

His motive, he said, was to seek a sentence reduction for himself and his brother Alfred, and to ensure that “we’re not going down alone”.

However, their several attempts for a presidential pardon have been consistently rebuffed by the cabinet. The Degiorgos have long accused the police of failing to hear out their claims over the involvement of other people in the journalist’s assassination.