Yorgen Fenech, 44, took the stand for the first time since his arrest seven years ago to testify in his murder trial. The businessman claims he had no involvement in the October 2017 killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and that he was framed. During four days of testimony, Fenech identified Keith Schembri, the chief of staff to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, as the true mastermind behind the murder.
Fenech’s defense has consistently maintained that Schembri orchestrated the killing and that Fenech himself was manipulated into facilitating it. According to Fenech’s account, the idea to kill the journalist emerged during a social gathering at his family property, where Schembri expressed anger over articles Caruana Galizia had written about his personal matters. Fenech testified that taxi driver Melvin Theuma, who later became the prosecution’s key witness, initially broached the subject and subsequently claimed knowledge of an existing plot against the journalist.
The prosecution’s case hinges on testimony from Theuma, a self-confessed middleman who has alleged that Fenech provided him €150,000 to hire three men to plant a car bomb. These three men—George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio, and Vincent Muscat—were arrested in December 2017 and have all been convicted of the murder. Police have indicated that Schembri was never considered a suspect in their investigation, and Schembri has denied involvement when called as a witness.
During his testimony, Fenech described his friendship with Schembri and claimed the adviser shared sensitive government information with him, including advance notice of police operations. He portrayed Theuma as an opportunist who used recorded conversations as leverage for financial gain. Fenech also acknowledged struggling with drug addiction, which he attributed to the stress of the situation, and claimed investigators covered up Schembri’s involvement in the case.
Article Attribution | Read More at Article Source
Article summary produced by Claude AI