Yorgen Fenech returned to court on Monday as the compilation of evidence against him for the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia continued.
In a brief session, a court heard testimony related to two separate garages that prosecutors say were used to store the bomb that was used to murder the journalist.
The court heard:
- Joseph Bugeja say that he rented a Mosta garage on behalf of Robert Agius tal-Maksar [Maksar is being charged in separate proceedings].
- Natale Azzopardi say that a Santa Venera garage he owned was rented to a 'Charles Cassar' between 2014 and 2018. He collected rent from different people, generally in Siggiewi. But in January 2018 'Cassar' could no longer be reached. He finally found the garage abandoned with its lock broken in early 2020.
- Lawrence Pace say that he accompanied Vince Muscat to Siggiewi twice, to pay a man some money on his behalf.
- Pace also took money from Melvin Theuma, to pass on to the Degiorgio brothers and Muscat after those three were arrested. Theuma would hand over €300 each time, and he handed the money over four times.
- A witness who cannot be named declined to answer questions for fear of self-incrimination. The witness "helped Theuma prepare recordings", the defence said.
- The defence warn that it risked not being able to cross-examine Keith Schembri, following the previous suspension of his testimony.
Fenech’s case was last in session last week, when a court heard the testimony of Matthew Caruana Galizia, one of the victim’s sons, as well as of a Europol expert who oversaw the seizure of electronic devices linked to Fenech.
As it happened
Live blog ends
11.55am A relatively brief court hearing has come to an end, and with it this live blog too.
The case resumes on Tuesday (tomorrow) at 10am.
We will have a summary of the key points of testimony available at the top of this article shortly. Thank you for having joined us this morning.
No further witnesses
11.54am Arnaud tells the court the prosecution has no further witnesses today.
The hearing was meant to last until 2pm, and the magistrate tells the prosecution that they should ensure they fill up the allotted time for the next sitting, which is scheduled for tomorrow.
Arnaud says prosecutors have two witnesses to present tomorrow.
With today’s session done, Yorgen Fenech is escorted out of the dock. He hugs his mother and pats other friends and relatives on the back as he is taken out of the courtroom through a back door. He’s all smiles.
Paying money in Siggiewi
11.50am Pace tells of one such errand, that tallies with what we heard from Azzopardi a few minutes ago.
“We once went to Siggiewi, near the petrol station. He told me to meet a guy with a small car and hand over some money, around €200, and tell him they’re from Censu.”
“I asked him, ‘why don’t you go yourself?’. He laughed me off. I went, handed the guy the money and took the receipt. This happened twice,” Pace testifies.
All this happened around “a year and a half” before the arrests, he says.
Pace – a white-haired elderly man with a soft voice – is done testifying.
Accompanying Muscat on errands
11.48am Arnaud asks the witness about his relationship with Vince Muscat.
He says the two occasionally shared a beer or a round of cards.
Arnaud: What car did he drive? Pace: A brown one. Arnaud: How do you know? Pace: He gave me a lift sometimes, because I don’t drive. And sometimes I accompanied him on an errand.
Theuma's payments
11.45am The witness says Melvin Theuma once approached him at a Marsa bar. It was “at the start of these things”.
What things, he is asked.
“When they were arrested. Around 2018. He had asked ‘how can I hand them €100 each?”
The witness says he would take €300 from Theuma and then hand them to the bar owner, who was friendly with the Degiorgio family. The money was for the three of them – Alfred and George Degiorgio, and “Censu” [Vince Muscat].
“He gave me €300 four times. Then he stopped giving me the money.”
Il-Lolly
11.42am The next witness is the “old guy” Azzopardi made reference to – Lawrence Pace, known as il-Lolly. He’s from Marsa. Vince Muscat lived one street away and he would often see him in local bars. He also knew the Degiorgio brothers, he says.
Garage abandoned
11.40am At that point, Azzopardi says he sought legal advice. He also spoke to the person renting the garage adjacent to this one, and asked her to contact him if he ever saw the occupant.
One day, he got a call from that second lessee. She told him the garage door was open and that a white van was in it.
Azzopardi says he stuck a sticker right in the middle of the garage door, where the person could not miss it. But he still didn’t hear anything.
Then in late March 2020, the neighbour called again, telling him that the garage was no longer being used. Azzopardi found its lock broken. The garage was empty.
The witness is asked if he ever went there during the time it was leased, between 2014 and 2018. He says he did not.
It was an “old guy” who paid him rent once, and then different people each time.
That’s all from Azzopardi.
Lessee vanishes
11.34am So Azzopardi’s wife went to the Sliema police station. Officers there directed her to the Hamrun station, where she was told that there was a problem with the ID card details the lessee had provided.
‘Charles Cassar’ said he had no garage leased in his name. He told Azzopardi he was not a Cassar and had not rented any garage. “Why do you keep sending me reminders to pay rent?” he asked Azzopardi.
Collecting rent
11.28am The witness says he would often go to Siggiewi to collect the rent. One time the lessee told him to meet his uncle next to the petrol station in the village square. Another time, he popped by a garden there. Rent was always paid on time, he says.
But then, the SMS messages suddenly stopped being delivered. The last rent was paid in September 2017, covering the period from June of that year to January 2018.
After January 2018, Azzopardi could no longer get through to the lessee. The phone number seemed ot be disconnected. He stuck a note to the garage door, asking the lessee to get in touch. But that didn’t work either.
Renting garage
11.24am Between January 2014 and January 2018, the garage in question was rented out to a Charles Cassar from Marsa, the witness says. Rent was €680 a year, payable twice a year.
Santa Venera garage owner testifies
11.20am The next witness is linked to the second garage – that in Santa Venera. Natale Azzopardi owns that garage.
He tells the court he’s the director of a real estate company that focuses on garages. Azzopardi is shown photos and identifies the Santa Venera garage.
He says he owns three garages there – he bought them in 2011, to rent. They have a ramp leading to them, and two entrances on different streets at different levels. They’re one-car garages.
Paying rent
11.17am Arnaud notes that the garage was leased around 2017 [the year Caruana Galizia was killed].
The witness says he paid the first €700 out of his own pocket, as he owed Robert Agius some money. But Agius paid the second €700.
Agius told Bugeja that he had removed the car he wanted stored from the garage. He thinks it was a Mercedes, the witness says in answer to a question.
That’s all from Bugeja.
'I have no idea what happened afterwards'
11.12am Bugeja says he rented the garage for €700 a year and handed the key to Robert Agius. It was a two-car garage.
He only went there once, to get the key, he says.
“I have no idea what happened afterwards. I gave the owner the keys back after Robert handed them to me.”
Renting Mosta garage for Robert Agius
11.08am Next witness: Joseph Bugeja, regarding the Mosta garage. Bugeja tells the court that he received a call from “Robert tal-Maksar”, who asked him to rent the garage on his behalf.
He needed it to garage a car but did not want it rented under his own name because of court proceedings he was facing, Bugeja recalls.
This happened “around four years ago”, he says.
The witness is shown photos of the garage façade, and confirms it.
Arnaud presents garage photos
11.03am Keith Arnaud is the next witness. He presents two sets of photos of a Mosta garage mentioned by Vince Muscat, which is where the bomb used to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia was allegedly stored.
The garage was leased by a third party, allegedly on behalf of Robert Agius tal-Maksar.
Arnaud also presents another set of images, of a Santa Venera garage where the bomb was also temporarily stored. Muscat had mentioned both those garages, Arnaud tells the court.
The Santa Venera garage owner had rented it to Muscat. [Muscat has testified about the garage in various cases related to the murder].
When will the testimony resume?
11.01am Fenech’s lawyers want to know when she will testify again.
They say that the suspension means the defence is being denied the right to put forward its evidence
Mercieca: "Keith Schembri’s testimony was suspended too, and now it’s doubtful whether that witness will be brought in to continue his testimony."
[Schembri is receiving treatment for a serious medical condition and has missed his last few court dates]
Brief testimony
10.58am The witness says she’s known Theuma for around five years.
Keith Arnaud asks her what Theuma asked of her. She declines to answer.
“What do you know of this case?” No reply.
Arnaud says her non-answers block his next questions. The magistrate suspends the witness’ testimony.
Witness will testify
10.51am The back and forth goes on for a while, until the magistrate ends it with a decision: the witness will testify, but must be cautioned and told that she has the right not to answer any self-incriminating questions.
Prosecution makes its case
10.45am It’s the prosecution’s turn to make its case.
Philip Galea Farrugia argues that his side had summoned the witness (in the other proceedings) but that since then, other proceedings have come to light. If she confirms the Theuma recordings, she’d automatically be prejudiced in those other proceedings, he says.
Witness helped Theuma prepare recordings
10.41am Mercieca continues to make his case.
The witness is facing proceedings for financial crime that are not at all linked to the Caruana Galizia murder, he says.
He notes that the witness helped Melvin Theuma prepare his recordings.
“Had she filmed him robbing a bank or threatening people as a loan shark, that would have been different,” he argues. “How can the attorney general says she cannot testify, before even hearing what she has to say?”
Mercieca reiterates that this witness is an “essential” one whose evidence is “vital” to the defence.
Rebuke for defence lawyer
10.37am But the magistrate cuts Mercieca short. She says that although other proceedings are not directly linked to this case, the content is intimately linked.
Mercieca sticks to his guns, though. He notes that this witness has testified in other proceedings (he’s referring to the case against the Degiorgios) and also faced cross-examination. Why is his client being denied access to the witness?
The magistrate cuts him short again, and Mercieca shakes his head in anger.
“The defence is here for nothing, given the way it is being treated by the court,” he says.
That remark earns him a warning from the magistrate.
Objections over witness
10.32am The day’s first witness is a young woman, whose name cannot be published by court order.
Prosecutors immediately object to her testifying – they argue that she is facing criminal proceedings related to this case.Fenech’s defence team argue that’s no grounds for not testifying.
Other witnesses in a similar situation were made to testify, but then chose not to answer self-incriminating questions.
Fenech in court, hearing begins
10.26am Yorgen Fenech is escorted in, the magistrate takes her place, and the hearing can begin.
Arnaud on crutches
10.24am The courtroom is gradually filling up. Fenech’s family and friends are here, as are his lawyers Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran.
The lead prosecutors, superintendent Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra, are also here. Arnaud’s injured: he enters the courtroom on crutches.
Deputy attorney general Philip Galea Farrugia also enters the courtroom.
No access to Ġojja intercepts
10.22am While we wait: Fenech’s lawyers have been refused access to phone taps played out to Edwin Brincat il-Ġojja during his interrogation.
The court noted that Fenech’s lawyers had already received a copy of a recording of that interrogation, which featured the intercepted calls being played out. The police have said that the intercepts were only used at that stage.
That court decision was delivered on July 30.
Who are the main players?
10.02am Yorgen Fenech: the businessman accused of complicity in Caruana Galizia's murder;
Melvin Theuma: the self-confessed middleman in the murder;
Vince Muscat: a confessed hitman in the murder who says Alfred and George Degiorgio were also involved.
Keith Arnaud, Kurt Zahra: the lead police investigators;
Rachel Montebello: the presiding magistrate;
Gianluca Caruana Curran, Marion Camilleri, Charles Mercieca: the lawyers appearing on Fenech’s behalf;
Jason Azzopardi, Therese Comodini Cachia: the lawyers appearing for the Caruana Galizia family.
Anthony Vella: representing the AG’s office and assisting the prosecution.
Welcome
9.58am Good morning and welcome to this live blog. We'll be bringing you minute-by-minute updates from hall 22 of the Valletta law courts, where the Fenech murder case continues today.