[WATCH] Degiorgios on trial: A powerful blast, a murdered journalist and three hitmen

In December 2017, three men were charged with murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia. The case against two of them has now reached trial stage.

George Degiorgio, known as iċ-Ċiniż, and his brother Alfred, known as il-Fulu, will appear in front of Judge Edwina Grima and the prosecution is asking for a life sentence.

The third man, Vince Muscat known as il-Koħħu, pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced to 15 years’ jail after securing a plea bargain with the prosecution.

In the first episode of a three-part docuseries produced by MaltaToday, we look back at how investigators came to arrest and charge the Degiorgio brothers and their associate in December 2017.

This story starts on the 16 October 2017, at precisely 2:58pm, when a loud bang rippled through rural Bidnija.

A powerful bomb placed beneath the driver’s seat of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s rented car exploded as she drove off from her home. The journalist was blown to pieces and the car burst into a ball of fire.

The 53-year-old mother, wife and journalist was assassinated and the news not only shattered a family but shocked Malta and turned the eyes of the world onto this little island in the Mediterranean Sea.

Two months later, on 4 December, 10 men were arrested in dramatic raids by police and the army on the potato shed in Marsa.

Among those arrested were George Degiorgio, his brother Alfred, and Vince Muscat. They were charged with murdering Daphne Caruana Galizia by planting a bomb in her car and triggering it.

The other men were released from arrest – these included the Tal-Maksar brothers, Adrian and Robert Agius, and their associate Jamie Vella. Two years later, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were charged with providing the bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia, while Adrian Agius and George Degiorgio were charged in a separate case with the murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop.