Daphne Caruana Galizia's car after the bomb blast
A hitman who has confessed to being involved in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia recounted in chilling detail how the Maltese journalist was kept under close surveillance before being blown up with a car bomb.
In his first account of the plot, Vince Muscat told a court how he would sit hidden for hours on end, smoking cigarettes, as he kept the journalist and anti-corruption blogger under surveillance.
Muscat is serving 15 years in prison after he last month dramatically pleaded guilty to being involved in the 2017 murder, which shocked not just Malta but the whole of Europe.
Two other men are accused of carrying out the car bombing — brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio – but they plead not guilty.
Muscat will now stand as a witness against them and was giving pre-trial testimony on Thursday.
He told the court that the three of them had initially thought of shooting Ms Caruana Galizia dead with a sniper’s rifle, but then decided to use a remotely-detonated car bomb because it would be enable them to keep a safe distance.
Vince Muscat, indicted for the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia
The bomb they eventually used was a sophisticated device that was detonated with the use of an SMS message sent from a mobile phone.
During a five-hour testimony, Muscat described how he used a powerful telescope to spy on the journalist, watching her type on her laptop while sitting on her sofa until 2am.
He would sit on two bricks until his backside became “sore”, smoking three packs of Rothmans Red a day.
He described the bomb that was used to kill Ms Caruana Galizia, whose widely-read blog on cronyism and corruption targeted politicians and business figures.
“It was a neat bomb, it had a stainless steel face. It had an apparatus in which the SIM card would be inserted. You send a particular message to the SIM card on the bomb.” The device was packed with 500g of explosive. A plastic bottle filled with petrol was attached to it to cause even greater devastation. The bomb was placed beneath the driver’s seat. It was detonated from a boat offshore by George Degiorgio, Muscat said.
Muscat said he and the Degiorgio brothers were prepared to shoot their way through a police roadblock if challenged.
“We had weapons in the car. There was a 9mm automatic that took a 16-round magazine and an AK-47.”
Muscat said the bomb was provided by three men – Jamie Vella and brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, who were arrested in January. They are also accused of being involved in the assassination.
Muscat said he and the Degiorgio brothers were paid €150,000 to kill Ms Caruana Galizia, who was married with three sons.
Alluding to political collusion in the assassination, he said he and the brothers were tipped off that they would be arrested over the murder in December 2017.
“We were aware they were coming for us some two to three weeks before…100%.”
He said he and his co-accused were being fed information by senior Maltese figures, including Chris Cardona, who was then economic services minister. He has always denied any involvement in, or knowledge of, the murder case.
Yorgen Fenech, a wealthy businessman, is accused of masterminding the assassination plot. He too has denied any wrongdoing.
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