Maksar gang trial: Text message sent from sea triggered Daphne Caruana Galizia's car bomb, FBI tells jurors
FBI agents testifying in the high-profile trial of four men accused of murdering journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia revealed that the car bomb which killed her in 2017 was detonated using a mobile phone at sea
15 May 2025, 8:55am
Nicole Meilak
Nicole Meilak
3 min read
A text message sent from a mobile phone out at sea triggered the car bomb that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, FBI agents told the jury hearing evidence against four men accused of her murder, and of lawyer Carmel Chircop.
According to William Shute and Richard Fennern, who were part of the FBI’s Cellular Analysis Survey Team, the device that detonated the bomb on October 16 2017 received a text message at exactly 2:58pm. That message read: “#REL1=ON”.
The message was sent from mobile number 99684366 to 99683752, the latter connected to a GSM module placed in the car. Based on cellular tower data, the sender's phone was located offshore, while the receiving module was positioned in Bidnija, where Caruana Galizia was killed.
“This abrupt disappearance from the network immediately after receiving the message was consistent with a detonation,” Fennern explained to the court.
The investigators said 53 mobile phones were active in the area around the time of the blast, but only one dropped off the network completely after the explosion.
Further analysis revealed that the devices involved in the attack were part of a setup using burner phones that only communicated with each other.
Based on their analysis, the FBI concluded that these phones had been purpose-bought for the assassination and went dormant immediately after the attack.
Data from one of the burner phones led investigators to a fourth number registered to George Degiorgio, one of the accused. Additional numbers linked to Alfred Degiorgio, George’s brother, were also co-located with these phones.
The agents also said that the bomb device appeared to have been activated at 1:41am on the day of the murder. Multiple test signals were logged before the fatal message was finally sent from sea.
In related testimony, a police constable described the raid on Robert Agius, one of the accused, during which authorities seized large sums of cash, mobile phones, ammunition, and top-up cards. A search of a Rabat garage uncovered €25,000 in cash, while €50,000 more was found in Agius's car.
Another officer said Vince Muscat, who has already pleaded guilty to his role in the Caruana Galizia killing, guided police to escape routes and weapons dumps linked to the 2015 murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop, which is also under scrutiny in the same trial.
Chircop’s Son: “We had no idea”
The son of Carmel Chircop took the witness stand to recall the moment he learned of his father's murder, recounting how his mother called him frantically and told him to check Facebook. He had no knowledge of his father’s possible involvement with the Maksar brothers until later. He did, however, confirm that Adrian Agius attempted to settle a legal dispute by offering the family a garage in Naxxar.
The prosecution read out testimony from John Bugeja. During the compilation of evidence he admitted he had rented garages for Robert Agius under duress due to a €96,000 debt. He testified that cars were stored in these garages but denied knowing what they were used for.
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Session over
Today's hearing in the trial by jury is over. Thank you for following the proceedings with us. We will continue with our reporting tomorrow at 9am.
Wife says she unknowingly registered car later found with drugs
The testimony of Josephine Bugeja, wife of John Bugeja, is now being read out in court. This testimony was given during the compilation of evidence. She had been questioned by police about a car. She was told that drugs were found in a car registered to her name, but she didn’t know who was using the car. “I just know they told me it was registered to me. I don’t know who used it,” she said.
"One day a man came and asked me if he could put the car on my name and I said of course,” she told the court. However, she didn’t know the man’s name and said she wouldn’t be able to recognise the man. In fact, she did not recognise any of the accused. However, this man was a friend of her husband, she said, did it out of respect. It was transferred to her around a year or so before this.
Bugeja said that the man was a car dealer, but was not able to recognise who the man was. “I didn’t ask who he was since he was a friend of my husband’s.”
She said she didn’t know how many cars are registered on her name. She mentions two cars but says there could be more. At that point in time she used a Toyota, while the other vehicle was not being used. She was going to sell it, but it was in her husband’s friend’s garage in Mosta.
Data passed on elsewhere for analysis
He is being shown a copy each report, giving a brief explanation of the work he carried out for each one, generally to do with data extraction. With no questions from the prosecution or defence, one juror asks about what this data was used for and how it would be secured. Tolli says an analysis would be carried out by someone else. “I didn’t analyse any data because I had no knowledge of the case. I just extracted the data,” he said. He’s unaware of who would have carried out the analysis.
Another Europol expert testifies
The next witness is testifying through a video link. He is Marco Tolli, a Europol expert. Back in 2017 he was part of the Europol digital forensics lab. He is being presented with a report that he drafted. In general, it was part of a set of reports that had been produced to support the Maltese investigation into the Caruana Galizia murder.
He is being presented with several documents and is being asked to confirm his signature on each one.
Speaking on the first report, he says he does not remember all the reports by heart. However, his role was to extract data from mobile devices. He is shown a copy of the first report with a list of the exhibits and some notes. He had to extract data from the exhibits listed.
John Bugeja’s testimony being read out
The prosecution is now reading out testimony given by John Bugeja during the compilation of evidence. Bugeja told prosecutors that he rented a couple of garages from Robert Agius. Bugeja used to use to space to store detergents, which he imported from Sicily.
Bugeja said he had debts with his Italian supplier, but these were almost paid off. He said that he had debt with Robert Agius too, connected to a trailer business in Magħtab. The witness had told the court that his debt to Robert Agius amounted to €96,000. Bugeja said he always paid Agius in cash.
The court had asked Bugeja about a garage in Mosta that he rented. Bugeja told the court that he rented it “for Robert”. The garage belonged to “Giovann tas-Sapuna”. The man, John Camilleri, was murdered in a car bomb in October 2016.
Bugeja said he rented the garage because Robert Agius had asked him to. Agius wanted to store a car inside it, and Bugeja felt obliged to do this because of the €96,000 debt. Bugeja rented the garage for €700 a year, but Agius only paid him twice.
According to Bugeja’s testimony, the garage was used for two years. The keys and remote key fob were passed on to Robert Agius a couple of hours after receiving them. Robert Agius placed a car inside it that same day. After this, he wasn’t sure what happened to the garage. “I gave him the keys and that’s it,” he said. He had no idea what the garage was used for or who used it.
Testimony being read out
The prosecution is now reading out previous testimony from a police official who worked on the Carmel Chircop investigation. The testimony concerns surveys carried out at the garage complex.
Another piece of testimony is being read out by the prosecution. This concerns a site visit to the scene of the crime.
Adrian Agius offered Chircop family a Naxxar garage
Chircop is telling jurors about his father’s business deal with a certain Jeffrey John Mallia. Although there had been some trouble with this deal, Chircop’s son says that things cooled down after a while, even going out for dinner with them at one point.
Before his father’s murder, he knew little about the Maksar brothers. But one time, when they were on holiday in Venezia as a family, he overheard his father on the phone mentioning payments that had to be passed on to him.
According to Chircop, Adrian Agius had opened a court case against him and his mother to cancel the constitution of debt between Agius and Carmel Chircop. This happened five months after the murder. Shortly after opening the court case, Adrian Agius offered to give the Chircop family a garage in Naxxar. The family eventually accepted €165,000 in an out-of-court settlement.
Carmel Chircop’s son testifies next
Chircop’s son testifies next. He had spoken to police in 2015 and testified in the inquiry into his father’s death. At the time, he was in university studying law.
It was early on the day of the murder when his mum called him asking where his father was and to check Facebook. He checked social media and saw news reports about a lawyer that was murdered in Birkirkara. He tried calming down his mother.
They were called to the police station and asked some questions about his father. At that point, he knew nothing about what his father might have been involved in anything suspicious. But it was there that he found out that his father was killed at Rampol buildings. His father used to park his car there everyday, he says.
He was supposed go to university that morning to attend a lecture. At the time, when he would have to attend a lecture at university, he would go to the garage complex with his father as he used a garage close to his father’s one. However, the lecture got cancelled.
Europol expert testifies via video link
After a couple of technical hiccups, we are now hearing testimony from Giuseppe Totaro, a Europol specialist. He had been appointed to conduct a forensic examination and data extraction from the devices seized.
The prosecution asks him questions about reports he wrote up in connection to the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigation. He is answering each question, but heavy rain and slight audio feedback makes some of his testimony difficult to follow.
Break's over
We're back in court to continue reporting on the jury proceedings. After a brief discussion between the judge and lawyers on visits to the crime scenes, the jurors are now in the courtroom to hear more testimony from foreign investigators, this time through a video link.
Lunch break
The court is taking a two-hour lunch break. We will continue our reporting at around 3pm.
Rampol visit cut short
Asked by one of the defence lawyers about the first visit with Muscat to places of interest, the police official says this visit was cut short. This is because, as they travelled to Rampol Buildings with Muscat, they noticed some journalists on site taking photos and videos of the building. The news of the pardon broke a day prior, so journalists were filming news features about the Carmel Chircop murder. Since the police did not want to bring Muscat to the murder scene with journalists around, they ended the visit there and then.
Places of interest shown to police
The next police official is explaining his role in the Caruana Galizia investigation and later the Chircop brief when Muscat was pardoned for his role in the murder.
He says that, when Muscat was pardoned and started to speak to police, he accompanied Muscat to various places of interest for the investigation. Muscat took him to an area near the Tiger Bar in Marsa where the murder weapons had been disposed of. He also took him to a garage in Santa Venera where they kept the stolen getaway car and the murder weapons.
He also explains that a certain John Bugeja rented a garage in Mosta on behalf of Robert Agius.
Vince Muscat showed police the Carmel Chircop escape route
This constable had also accompanied Vince Muscat, Inspector Keith Arnaud and other police officials on a trip to Birkirkara. Muscat showed them the escape route used on the day of Chircop’s murder. This happened on 28 February 2021, a couple days after Muscat pleaded guilty to his role in the Caruana Galizia murder.
One of the defence lawyers asks whether a similar exercise was carried out prior to this. The constable says he hadn’t carried one out himself before this.
The police search on Robert Agius
A police constable is up next. He used to work with the drugs squad and had conducted a search and arrest warrant against Robert Agius. This was part of the Daphne Caruana Galizia investigation.
Police searched his vehicle and found various documents and a BOV cheque in the glove box. Another €50,000 in cash was found elsewhere in the car. This was sealed in an evidence bag. Eight top-up cards were also seized and sealed in an evidence bag. A Samsung mobile, iPhone, and a DHL parcel envelop were found and seized too. Three other mobile phones were found in the car too.
Police also seized and sealed 18 keys found in the car. The car was later towed and taken to the police headquarters in Floriana.
In a Rabat garage, police found four cars, one with registration number “Maksar” and another “Sophie”. Two motorcycles were found too. Other items seized include a DHL parcel and €25,000 in cash.
When police searched Agius’s property, they found ammunition, an empty iPhone box and two external hard disks, among other items.
CCTV timelines and map information
The sergeant is presenting to the court various documents with timelines and maps.
One of the defence lawyers asks the witness about the CCTV footage presented for the Carmel Chircop murder. He says there was a lot of activity around the garage complex on the day of the murder. The witness says police looked into the other vehicles that passed by.
A lot of the questioning from the defence lawyers is similar to what we’ve heard with other witnesses. On the Carmel Chircop murder, they are asking about other entryways into the garage complex and the CCTV footage around the Birkirkara building.
Meanwhile, the rain outside is starting the batter the windows of the courtroom. The judge is asking the lawyers to speak a bit louder so that they can be heard over the storm happening outside.
Court in session again
A former police sergeant is testifying. He used to be part of the homicide squad. He will testify on both the Chircop and Caruana Galizia probes.
Break until 11:30am
The court is taking a short break. We will be back with our reporting when the court is in session again.
Which number did what?
Summarising their findings, the investigator reads out the numbers that were connected to the bombs or the accomplices in the murder:
Mobile records led investigators to Degiorgio brothers
All three devices stopped being used later that day, suggesting these phones were set up to carry out the murder.
Based on the tower dump information for one of the numbers, investigators were able to co-locate a fourth number to the three already identified. This was passed on to police, who found that the number was registered to George Degiorgio.
They also looked at other cell phone numbers in communication with George Degiorgio on the day. They found six numbers, one of them associated with Alfred Degiorgio. This number was co-located with one of the other numbers already identified by investigators.
Bomb active at 1:41am
The FBI agent is describing in detail the movements of the devices throughout the day, generally in the Bidnija area and out at sea.
The phone records allowed them to find out that the bomb was active as early as 1:41am on the day of the murder.
“We had the two phones identified for the detonation, and three phones that their only communication is with each other. Consistent with phones used for a specific purpose,” Fennern said.
Three devices worked together to carry out the murder
Based on a review of records, investigators were also able to find other mobile numbers associated with the explosive and the detonator numbers. They found three mobile phones that were bought at around the same time, and investigated these further. Records showed that there was a lot of communication between the numbers on the day of the murder, and mobile devices associated with two of the numbers identified were found to be in close proximity to Caruana Galizia’s house on the day.
“All throughout this day, we see this various devices all communicating with each other and moving in different parts around the island,” Shute says.
Bomb set up in January 2017
According to the investigator, the killer device was first used on 10 January. The SIM card belonging to the phone that was used in the bomb received a top-up text and a confirmation text. Another SIM card was then placed into the same device, while the original card was placed in what would end up being the mobile that would send the killer text from out at sea.
Trigger mobiles were at sea and in Bidnija
The agent explains that one device was abruptly disconnected from the network at the time of the murder. It received a text message at 2:58pm, and the position of the text message was consistent with the area of the explosion.
The text message was decoded and it showed that the mobile phone number 99684366 sent a text message to 99683752 at 2.58pm and that message was "#REL1=ON".
Agent Fennern said they concluded that the numbers 99684366 and 99683752 were those utilised to detonate the device. One was the telephone that sent the text message and the receiving number was a GSM module.
The mobile’s position was consistent with being at sea, whilst the GSM module was in Bidnija.
Single mobile disappeared from network after bomb explosion
Richard Fennern, the other investigator, continues explaining to jurors the review of tower activity in the Bidnija area between 2:58pm and 3:02pm, which is roughly when the bomb went off. There were 53 different cell phones being used at that time. From that, they went back to the phone company and asked which phones are still on the network. “The logic is that if a device was never used again, it might have been the one that was used to detonate the bomb,” he explains.
After looking at records for that phone, investigators found that the only activations with the phone network were on 10 January, 21 August, and 16 October (the day of the murder).
From presentation to investigation
William Shute, one of the investigators, is explaining how they were brought onto the investigation. At the time, they were asked by FBI HQ to travel to Germany to give a presentation for German law enforcement. At the same time, there was an opportunity to come to Malta to present law enforcement techniques. While in Germany, they learned of Caruana Galizia’s murder. They were still asked to come to Malta, but instead of giving a presentation they would help Maltese police with the investigation, especially with cell phone analysis.
The presentation they are giving today is very detailed. The investigator says this is done so that jurors can understand the technical aspects of their investigation more clearly.
Cellular analysis and technical hiccups
The two investigators are explaining to jurors their role in the FBI. They formed part of the cellular analysis survey team and worked on the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case.
The two had already testified during the compilation of evidence against George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio and Vincent Muscat.
The court is trying to solve a technical problem with the televisions in the hall, so that the report they wrote up can be shown to the people in the room.
Good morning and welcome to today's live blog. Proceedings have just started in the courtroom. Our first witnesses are investigators from the FBI.