Guilty verdicts, a star witness and Chapter 3 of Daphne’s murder
Jurors in the Maksar gang trial delivered guilty verdicts against four men but they also delivered the message that they believed the testimony of Vince Muscat and Melvin Theuma

Jurors took less than 24 hours to deliver guilty verdicts against four men involved in the murders of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and lawyer Carmel Chircop.
But as much as the guilty verdicts were clear and unambiguous, the nine-person jury also delivered an unequivocal message: ‘We believe Vince Muscat and Melvin Theuma.’
This message strengthens the prosecution’s hand in the pending trial of Yorgen Fenech, accused of masterminding Caruana Galizia’s murder in October 2017.
Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, was given a presidential pardon for his involvement in the 2015 Chircop murder on condition that he tells all he knows. He also benefitted from a plea bargain in the Caruana Galizia murder case in exchange for information on the bomb suppliers.

In February 2021, Muscat, who was one of three hitmen to be charged with the journalist’s assassination, Chapter 1 in the saga, had pleaded guilty to his involvement and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Muscat was the prosecution’s star witness throughout the trial by jury of brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, known as Tal-Maksar, and their associates Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio, known as Iċ-Ċiniż. This was Chapter 2 in the Caruana Galizia murder case.
The only link
Muscat’s testimony was the only link between the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia and the suspected suppliers, Robert Agius and Jamie Vella. Defence lawyers tried to exploit this by questioning Muscat’s credibility and trying to depict him as a desperate man who was willing to say anything in exchange for the presidential pardon. The defence argued the pardon was politically motivated and unjustly prejudiced the case against their clients. But the strategy failed.

Jurors believed Muscat and found Agius and Vella each guilty by eight votes to one—in judicial circles this is deemed to be a unanimous verdict—of complicity in Caruana Galizia’s murder and possession of dangerous explosives.
In the Chircop murder case, Muscat’s testimony was backed up by forensic evidence. The prosecution’s standing was stronger, even though defence lawyers for Adrian Agius, Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio tried to challenge Muscat’s version of events.
Nonetheless, jurors once again, believed Muscat and in another strong verdict found all three guilty by seven votes to two. The only acquittal was that of Robert Agius, who jurors found not guilty by six votes to three of complicity in the Chircop murder.
The prosecution’s decision to charge all gang murders together for both murders, even though they were not linked apart from the people involved being the same, paid off. If Muscat was to be believed in the Chircop murder case, where forensic evidence was available to back up some of his claims, it would have been difficult for jurors not to believe his testimony in the Caruana Galizia case.
Believing Theuma
Significantly, the unanimous verdict against Robert Agius and Jamie Vella as the bomb suppliers in the Caruana Galizia murder case, shows that jurors also believed the testimony given by pardoned middleman Melvin Theuma.
Theuma was the person, who acted as go-between for alleged Caruana Galizia murder mastermind Yorgen Fenech and the three hitmen—brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio, and Vince Muscat. The Degiorgio brothers are each serving a 40-year jail term after admitting their involvement in the journalist’s murder.

In the Maksar gang trial, Theuma testified how Fenech had told him to look for “Ta’ Maksar” and warn them that police were targeting their Żebbuġ garage after Muscat started cooperating with the police. This happened sometime in 2018 when Muscat and the Degiorgio brothers were already in custody awaiting trial.
Muscat had started cooperating with the police but information he gave was somehow being leaked back to the Degiorgios and Fenech. At the same time, Theuma had started recording conversations he had with Fenech as insurance—Theuma started fearing for his life and knew that he was the only person linking Fenech to Caruana Galizia’s hitmen.
Theuma was eventually given a presidential pardon to tell all and in November 2019, Fenech was arrested and charged.
Theuma’s testimony in the Maksar gang trial strengthened the testimony given by Muscat in relation to the Caruana Galizia murder. And jurors believed both men, bringing Chapter 2 in the Caruana Galizia murder case to a successful close for the prosecution.
Chapter 3 in the Caruana Galizia murder case has yet to be finalised but last week’s verdict undoubtedly strengthens the hands of prosecutors in the pending trial by jury of Yorgen Fenech, where Theuma is the key witness.