Maksar trial: Inmate testifies on hearsay that Caruana Galizia bomb was made by 'Double Zero'

That's it for today

We are bringing this blog to a close. A full report of today's proceedings will be uploaded shortly.

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Brignone will continue testifying tomorrow, to remain in isolation until then

Madam Justice Edwina Grima dismisses the members of the jury since another point of law is raised. The prosecution wants Nicole Brignone’s 2022 testimonies to be read out in full.

The defence team agrees and the judge grants the request. Madam Justice Grima confirms that the witness will continue testifying tomorrow.

Brignone is called back to the witness stand and the judge informs her that she needs to remain in court, isolated. Brignone replies: “So I can’t go home today?”. The judge replies with a firm “no”.

The witness storms out, visibly frustrated.

This brings an end to today’s sitting.

Brignone cross-examined

The court orders that a copy of Nicole Brignone’s testimony, which was read out in court, is passed on to the members of the jury.

Defence lawyer Rene Darmanin now cross-examines Brignone and addresses her conflicting statements.

QUICK RECAP: Who are Brignone, Double 0, Brandon Cachia and Melchior Spiteri?

So, this is what has just been happening in court.

Prison inmate Melchior Spiteri shared a prison cell with one of the accused—Robert Agius.

Spiteri testified that Agius broke down crying, telling him he had no involvement with Daphne Caruana Galizia’s bomb.

Spiteri then told jurors that another inmate, Brandon Cachia, had recounted how his previous girlfriend—Nicole Brignone—once told him that the Caruana Galizia bomb was made by Kevin Ellul, known as Double 0.

Spiteri felt the need to tell Robert Agius about this information.

It has to be noted that Ellul had been himself the victim of a bomb explosion at his Gharghur residence in 2018. He survived the attempt and the case remains unresolved.

Brignone admits speaking to Ellul before entering courtroom

We return to the ongoing proceedings after Nicole Brignone’s previous testimony was read out.

Brignone admits to having spoken to Kevin Ellul before entering the courtroom. She says that she spoke to him for a total of 10 minutes. Brignone says she has been here since the morning and Ellul too.

She tells the jury that she does not remember telling Brandon Cachia that Kevin Ellul was involved in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s bomb creation.

Brignone had testified that Double 0 did not want to get involved with Daphne bomb

In her testimony, Brignone had admitted that there was a discussion about bombs. Kevin Ellul (Double 0) allegedly said he wanted to make a bomb targeting the Maksar brothers as revenge.

Brignone had testified that she does not remember much and has no proof of what was said.

When asked about the bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia, Brignone had testified that Kevin told her someone called him about it. Brignone added that Kevin had said he’s “not stupid” and would not get involved, but later said other things. Kevin later said that certain people were calling from prison but Brignone testified that she didn’t know who they are.

Kevin received calls from prison and asked the callers if his name was being mentioned in connection with the Caruana Galizia bomb. She had said that she was never present when the calls were made.

The testimony also mentioned how Kevin had suffered a bomb attack at his Għargħur farmhouse in 2018. Brignone had testified that Kevin told her that the Maksar brothers were behind this bombing at his residence.

Previous testimony being read out

Prosecutor Godwin Cini is now reading out the testimony Nicole Brignone had given during the compilation of evidence.

She had admitted having an intimate relationship with Brandon Cachia at the same time that she had been dating Kevin Ellul, known as ‘Double 0’.

‘Nicole’ testifies

Nicole Brignone also testifies.

Back in 2022, she was interrogated by the police and had previously testified on this case.

Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks her: “Do you remember anything of what you had said?” She replies in the negative.

Brignone says she never had a relationship with Cachia and that she does not remember for how long she has known him.

When asked again, she says that they were mostly friends but still went out a few times.

“How long did you go out with him?” Cini asks. “I do not remember”, she replies.

Brignone states she knew ‘Double zero’ back when she was not “mentally stable” and used to get in a lot in trouble. Madam Justice Grima asks her if she dated Double 00 and she replies “yes”.

However, she says that he had stolen certain items from her apartment and their relationship had ended.

She also says that she never spoke about Caruana Galizia with 'Double Zero'.

Madam Justice Grima asks her to confirm if she was in the car together with both Cachia and Kevin at a point. Brignone confirms and admits to the court that she used to date both of them at the same time.

This was a conflicting statement as she had previously said that she did not have a relationship with Cachia.

At this point the members of the jury were asked to leave in order so that a point of law could be raised. After the members of the jury leave, the defence lawyers request that her previous testimony on the case be read in full to the jurors.

‘Double zero will kill us both’

Brandon Cachia is next to testify. He was serving prison time at the same time as Robert Agius and allegedly told Melchior Spiteri that it was not Agius who was involved in creating the bomb of the murder.

He tells the court that when he met with Spiteri, they were discussing life on the outside.

It was at this point that Cachia told Spiteri: “before I was convicted, I used to date a certain Nicole, who was also dating Double 00 who created the bomb that killed Daphne”.

After this, Spiteri had disagreed with him, and told him that the person responsible for doing so is already in prison and was awaiting trial.

He testifies that he only saw Double 00 once, but Nicole told him to identify himself as her cousin. Since Nicole was cheating on Double 00 with Brandon, and to avoid suspicion on his part, she told him that Cachia was her cousin.

Nicole told Cachia on Double 00: “He is a dangerous person and if gets to know about us, he will kill me. If he gets to know we are not cousins, he will kill us both”.

Robert Agius broke down crying insisting on his innocence – cell mate  

Melchior Spiteri is called up to testify.

Spiteri was previously convicted of killing a man in Bormla and was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment. Spiteri used to share a cell with Robert Agius.

He says Robert Agius told him constantly it was not him who created the bomb and had also cried in front of him.

A certain Brandon Cachia who at the time was a newcomer in the prison, convicted of drug possession also told Spiteri he was dating a woman named Nicole, but that she was also dating another man “Kevin”, known as Double 00.

Brandon had told Spiteri how Nicole told him the a certain Double Zero had actually made the bomb used to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Spiteri testifies that he could not keep this important information to himself as Cachia had constantly told him that he was not guilty of creating the bomb used in the killing and had sometimes cried on the matter.

He says that he felt obliged to tell Agius this information and after doing so, he told Cachia to confirm his version of events and Cachia did so.

Defence lawyer Rene Darmanin questions Spiteri about his relationship with Aguis: he replies: “We were always very close friends in prison, we respected each other very much and I consider him as my brother”.

Use of Spatial Information (SI) to analyse crime scene

The testimony of Professor Saviour Formosa, a criminologist, kicks off the proceedings after the break.

He explains his role: he analysed the videos taken by the forensic unit team by the use of a special system.

The system, with the use of Spatial Information (SI), creates a video of the scene of the murder. You can see the indications of what exactly happened through the use of data.

This data together with the data of the drones, were both used in investigations. In the report compiled, specific data was also included such as the distance from where the car started and where it ended up following the explosion.

We're back in session

Everyone is back in the courtroom, and the sitting has resumed.

Sitting suspended 

The court is suspending the session for a two-hour lunch break. We will continue with our live reporting at 3pm.

Trove of evidence in sea off Marsa potato shed

Police Major Matthew Sant is next to testify. 

Back in 2017, he was informed that he was to carry out an underwater search in the sea near the Marsa Potato Shed – the place where Alfred Degiorgio, George Degiorgio and Vince Muscat were arrested.

He was accompanied by another three divers during the searches, and their role was to find items related to explosive devices. He says they used to spend very long days carrying out the search, since the visibility of the sea as it was December and it was getting dark early.  

Sant explains how various mobile phones, batteries and sim cards were found during the search. Upon finding them, they used to hand over everything to the Forensic Unit for them to seal and document everything.

Steven Said and Ivan Falzon, both police officers were also involved in the underwater search led by Matthew Sant.

Cross-examination is reserved.

Jamie Vella showed up at site of arrest with Robert Agius in the passenger seat

Another police inspector, Adrian Sciberras, tells the court that at the time of the murder he was also stationed at the Drug Squad.

Back in December he was assigned with the squad led by Police Inspector Jonathan Cassar to investigate a farmhouse on Tagliaferro Road, Mosta. They were there to arrest Jamie Vella, he confirms.

He explains how Vella’s father showed up, and officers were instructed to keep the father under their surveillance in a yard in the farmhouse. Jamie Vella showed up driving a Volkswagen car, accompanied by Robert Agius, sitting in the passenger seat.

They were searched, and their mobile phones were elevated and handed over to the investigation officer in charge. He also identifies Agius and Vella present in the courtroom.

Cross-examination by lawyer Amadeus Cachia reveals the witness did not know who was giving orders to Inspector Jonathan Cassar, who was in charge during the arrests.

Sergeant Alana Caruana, who was also stationed at the drug squad, was also involved in the arrests of Robert Agius and Jamie Vella. She left the area at around 12pm.

A member of the jury asks the witness to confirm the reason of the arrests, and she says: “For the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia”.

Jamie Vella and Robert Agius cooperated with the police

Inspector Cassar’s testimony resumes and he identifies Jamie Vella and Robert Agius in the courtroom.

Defence lawyer Amadeus Cachia asks the witness to confirm the time stamps of the events he recounted. He confirmed that he arrived at the farmhouse at around 7am since the sun was already up.

Lawyer Cachia also asks the witness to confirm the whereabouts he was in, with Cassar replying that he was only instructed to arrest the suspects and not to investigate the area.

Upon cross examination, the Police Inspector confirms that upon their arrest, the two men accused cooperated fully with the authorities.

Sitting resumes

We are back in the courtroom, the sitting has resumed, and Madame Justice Grima and the members of the jury have returned in the courtroom.

Session suspended

The court session has been suspended briefly and is expected to continue in around 15 minutes.  

Jamie Vella is arrested at his Mosta farmhouse

Inspector Jonathan Cassar is next on the witness stand. He tells the court he is currently stationed at the St Julian’s police station, but at the time of the murder he was stationed with the police’s Drug Squad. On 4 December 2017, he was instructed to go to a farmhouse in Mosta and was handed the arrest warrant for Jamie Vella.

It was empty and locked when they went early in the morning, he says. The inspector and his team kept waiting for an hour, before a person arrived on site and identified himself as Vella’s father.

They entered the farmhouse, waiting for Vella to show up. After approximately two hours, Vella arrived on site together with Robert Agius, known as ‘Tal-Maksar’. Vella was arrested and read rights.

He informed Agius that there was also an arrest warrant in his name but it was not in his possession so he could not arrest him. However, Aguis’ warrant was later obtained and he was subsequently arrested. 

The inspector stayed on site as he was instructed to do so, but the search on the farmhouse was not carried out on the day. A police officer was instructed to keep lookout whilst Agius and Vella were taken to the police lock-up. The farmhouse is situated in the area of L-Għarusa tal-Mosta garden.

Overwhelming amount of evidence at murder site

Further footage captured by a drone is shown to the members of the jury. The footage shows white objects on the road. The jury hears that these were white sheets covering certain items which were expelled from the car during the explosion. 

A body part of the victim, Daphne Caruana Galizia, was also covered with a white sheet.

The footage shown also displays a number of blue boxes, leading to the damaged car. The blue boxes are used to be stepped on in order for inspectors or experts to access the car. This was done to properly preserve evidence.

Another police officer confirms his colleague’s testimony and explains that works were carried out on four sectors of evidence. Sites were split up into sectors due to the overwhelming amount of evidence. The main works by them were done on the damaged car before it was transferred to another place for further investigation.

Items were photographed and passed over to exhibit officers, he says.

Bird’s eye view of murder site shown to jurors

Inspector Charlot Casha takes the stand next. A photo is displayed on the courtroom television showing a bird’s eye view of various places where an explosion crater was created in the road tarmac following the bomb which killed Daphne Caruana Galizia. 

An explosion crater is a type of hole formed when material is ejected from the surface of the ground by an explosion, Debattista explains. Photos of the damaged vehicle in a nearby field close to the crater are shown. Photos of the concealed ‘vantage point’ are also shown to the members of the jury.

The inspector explains how a hole in a nearby fence was found, a destroyed rubble wall and a used cigarette butt too. A ‘vantage point’ is a certain place that provides and affords a clear view and perspective of a particular area. Reference was again made to photographs showing human faeces found close by to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder site.

Swieqi residence raided by police

Another residence in Swieqi was searched, Vella explains.

More digital devices were seized and taken in as evidence.

These searches were all documented in the reports. All the objects elevated were handed over to Europol by police inspector Formosa.

Police inspectors take the stand

Police inspector Antoine Fenech is first to take the stand on Tuesday. Prosecutor Godwin Cini makes reference to a report drafted by the witness. The report involved the findings of certain searches in a garage and in a flat in St Pauls Bay which were carried out between the days of 5-6 December 2017.

Police inspector Joseph Vella is next. Cini made reference to another report. The witnesses’ involvement: On 4 December 2017 he was informed by Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud, to go on specific sites and take photographs. There was also a court expert on the site.

The sites were a factory in Marsa and a private residence in Żebbug. From the residence and the factory, several digital items were elevated including a number of mobile phones of different brands.

Good morning.

Our court reporter Maya Galea has just entered the courtroom along with the jurors.