The Maltese man hired as a lookout to watch Panama Papers journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia before she was killed in October 2017 told a court he and her killers had disputed whether they were taking her at a short distance with ‘ had to kill a gun – they finally decided was ‘too noisy’ – before I sat down on a bomb because it was ‘cleaner’.
Vincent Muscat ‘il-Koħħu’, who is serving a 15-year sentence after pleading guilty to his role in the murder of Galizia, apologized to her family before his five-hour testimony on Thursday, according to The Times of Malta and other media reports. “I have admitted all the charges against me and I have been sentenced,” he told the court.
He then paints a picture of the plot to kill her with precision, including how he and co-accused Alfred Degiorgio spent their time looking at the journalist up close in cafes and through the windows of her Maltese home, with using an autofocus telescope. ‘We’ll be sitting there on two bricks. “It was uncomfortable and you would get hurt,” he said. ‘I’m going to get food sometimes. I bought three packets of Rothmans Red a day. We threw the butt away in a water bottle to leave no traces. We watched Daphne on her couch with a laptop for up to 2 hours. “
Seven people have been charged with murder and complicity, including Maltese tycoon Yorgen Fenech, who according to Muscat is the conspirator. Fenech, who was arrested for sailing to Italy, denies the allegations.
Muscat described how he took the job of killing her. “Alfred Degiorgio came to me and told me there was a good job for me,” he told the court. ‘The plan was to follow her steps and shoot her when the time was right. . ”
He then described how he and the others had been paid an advance of € 30,000, in € 50 notes. ‘We took € 10,000 each and started working. Alfred and I followed her to Bidnija, “he said, referring to her hometown. He then said the original plan was to kill her in her home.
At one point, they planned to carry out her execution with a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight on it. Alfred Degiorgio was ready to pull the trigger, but his brother, George Degiorgio, turned off the hit and told the men that it was ‘too noisy’ and that they would probably be caught. “A bomb will be easier to install, much cleaner,” they decided.
“The plan was to have Alfred shot under the tree,” he was quoted as saying by Maltese media reports. ‘I would take him away from the scene with a stolen car. Once he’s shot, I’ll have to lift the gate so we can escape. ‘
Muscat also named a number of people close to the inner circle of former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, who he said were in charge of the hit, including former Economy Minister Chris Cardona and former Muscat chief of staff Keith Schembri. Muscat, the admitted killer, has no connection to former Prime Minister Muscat.
During the testimony, Galizia’s sons tweeted vividly about the gruesome details. “Alfred Degiorgio got a small water bottle, filled it with petrol and attached it to the bomb to make its impact even more devastating,” tweeted Matthew Caruana Galizia. “It was made of stainless steel, sophisticated and clearly foreign … It has a slot for a SIM card.”
The two men had a closet of weapons in their car to escape. “We had weapons in the car,” he said. “There was a 9mm automatic car that took a 16-lap magazine, and an AK-47 in the car in case we got a roadblock.”
When the journalist’s sons and husband listened, Muscat described the bomb being so powerful that it sent her car off the road to a nearby field and literally blew up her body. “Six inches thick, five inches wide and three inches long,” he said, pointing with his hands to the approximate size. “It was a neat bomb, it had a stainless steel face.”
He further said that it has a slot for a SIM card to control the explosion with high precision. “The bomb comes with a cellphone. It had a switch. You are sending a specific message to the SIM card on the bomb, ‘he said. “It contained about 500 grams of explosives.”
Then he added that it was so important for the people who hired them to make sure she did not survive, that they stepped up the bomb. “We would have attached a petrol bottle to it if it was not strong enough,” he said.
They also obtained a car that was “identical to Galizia” so they could practice opening the rear window and placing the bomb under the driver’s seat. He also said that Alfred Degiorgio apparently at one point had to do with two groups they both wanted to hire to kill Galizia. “Alfred once told me Cardona had sent me a message,” referring to the former Minister of Economy. He mentions the € 150,000. He said there are two groups … they quoted the same price. ”
The night before she was killed, Muscat said he was called to pick up the bomb at a garage in a suburb of Valletta. Galizia left her car outside at night, rather than inside the garage, giving them the perfect opportunity to plant the deadly explosive. They installed the bomb in the middle of the night and carried it in a backpack to her car.
Then they met again at six in the morning of the murder and waited hours before she came outside. “One, she’s coming out,” Degiorgio told me … but she went in again, “Muscat said. “Shortly afterwards, she reappeared. It was as if she had forgotten something.”
Then Galizia got in her car and drove out of her driveway and down a winding road. They detonated the bomb just before the road dived, Muscat testified. ‘We walk back to the car. We did not hear anything, “Muscat told the court. “Alfred said, ‘I do not think it exploded. ‘I look back and see black smoke. I swear, Your Honor, we heard nothing from there. We only heard a small noise. ‘
Muscat then told the court he was shocked at the national and international attention the murder received. He said he had no idea how important she was or the impact of what they did.