Melvin Theuma claims he feared Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri wanted to have him killed
Caruana Galizia murder middleman Melvin Theuma says in court that he was fearful Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri were planning to have him killed
Melvin Theuma was fearful Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri might have had him killed, the middleman in the Caruana Galizia murder case said in court on Monday.
Theuma, who was giving testimony during the compilation of evidence against Fenech - the man charged with masterminding the journalist's assassination - said he feared Fenech and Schembri, then chief of staff to Joseph Muscat, might employ hit men to get rid of him to prevent him from saying anything about the crime.
Fenech, Theuma said, assured him however that he would not be harmed.
Theuma also told the court that Schembri and former deputy police chief Silvio Valletta had tipped off Fenech that he (Theuma) would be raided by the police.
The middleman also said that he had asked Fenech to speak to then police chief Lawrence Cutajar to not have the police search him and his family during the raid.
Cutajar, Theuma said, had previously asked Edwin Brincat, known as il-Ġojja - Theuma's friend and confidant - whether he had any information about recordings which were in the middleman's possession.
In his testimony, Theuma also told the court that Fenech had once sent him a MaltaToday article reporting on a survey which showed Labour were surging ahead in terms of support.
Theuma said this was done to show that, if Labour were in power, Fenech and he would be protected.
Earlier
The compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech is continuing this morning.
The former Tumas Group director stands charged with masterminding the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
During the previous sitting on 1 June, Melvin Theuma, the middleman in the journalist’s 2017 assassination, claimed that Chris Cardona had passed on money, through another middleman, to Alfred Degiorgio, known as il-Fulu - one of the three men accused of executing the car bomb murder.
Theuma claimed that Mario Degiorgio, brother to Alfred and George Degiorgio, had told him that David Gatt, a lawyer who worked in Cardona’s firm, had sent a message to the Degiorgio brothers warning them that if they revealed anything about Cardona’s involvement, he could have them killed.
Cardona denied the claims saying that they were nothing but “nonsense, based on lies that don't even make sense.”
READ ALSO: Cardona dismisses Caruana Galizia murder claims as ‘nonsense, based on lies’
Magistrate Rachel Montebello is hearing the compilation of evidence against Fenech.
The defence lawyers are Marion Camilleri and Gianluca Caruana Curran.
The prosecution is being led by inspectors Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra, assisted by the Attorney General.
Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are appearing parte civile for the Caruana Galizia family.
READ MORE: Theuma recalls Silvio Valletta at Yorgen Fenech’s Żebbuġ ranch after Daphne murder