Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case: Alfred Degiorgio's DNA found on cigarette butts

The case is adjourned until April 26 

A cigarette butt collected from Bidnija and cigarette butts taken from the potato shed matched with Alfred Degiorgio’s DNA, Medical legal expert said.

Dr. Marisa Cassar, who was appointed by Magistrate Anthony Vella to examine a number of exhibits, said she collected a cigarette butt found near the scene of the bombing, cigarettes taken from the potato shed as well as clothing.

From the exhibits, she concluded that at least 12 different person’s genetic profiles emerged, including the Degiorgio brothers.

The cigarette butt found at Bidnija, which matched Alfred Degiorgio’s DNA, was found at the vantage point from which it is believed that the spotter for the bombers was observing the victim.

The cigarettes, which were cross examined by an expert for defence lawyer William Cuschieri, said cigarettes found in the ashtray at Marsa belonged to Alfred Degiorgio.

No data retrieved from diver's SD card

The Cyber crime unit was unable to retreive data from the SD card and GoPro when Armed Forces retrieved SIM cards and phones from the potato shed in Marsa, the court was told this morning. 

As the compilation of evidence against the three men accused of the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia continues today, an AFM witness said that various mobile phones and SIM cards were recovered from the seabed. However, the SD card with footage of the items being retrieved from seabed appears to have been corrupted, and the data was not retrieved.

George Degiorgio, his brother Alfred Degiorgio, and Vincent Muscat, were arrested last December and charged with the journalist's murder.

READ ALSO: Bail refused for suspects accused of Daphne Caruana Galizia murder

In the last sitting, the court heard that the police extracted almost two terabytes of CCTV footage from various places around Malta as part of the investigation.

Earlier this week, police prosecutors gave the court an explanation of where and how the evidence linked to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder was collected from Bidnija and its surroundings during an on-site visit.

Today, Patrick Pollacco senior officer at Transport Malta at port security said the police had requested footage from CCTV cameras in the the harbour. 

On the witness stand, a Drugs squad policeman said he had been observing Alfred Degiorgio's flat and later participated in the search.

Defence lawyers Martin Fenech and William Cuschieri were admonished by the court for constantly interrupting by objecting to questions by the prosecution.

George Degiorgio's apartment

Inspector John Spiterif rom the Vice Squad is the next witness to testify.

On 4 December, he was instructed to attend a briefing and was assigned a team of police officers and experts to examine a St Paul’s Bay flat belonging to George Degiorgio. A member of Europol was present as an expert appointed by the magistrate.

Degiorgio’s partner opened the door and he informed her that he had been arrested.

A contract for the Maya and other electronic devices were found and seized.

A number of documents including a charge sheet and an affidavit dating to 2008 with a yellow sticky note with a password were also found in the matrimonial bedroom’s bedside table.

A paper with official numbers of police whom the inspector recognized was also found.

The inspector, scene of crime officers, the Europol expert and other officers were present, Spiteri said. The Europol officer was Scandinavian called Sammy, said the inspector. He helped point out relevant items, Spiteri said.

The compilation of evidence is over for today. The case continues 26 April.

The three men accused during an on-site visit at Bidnija

FACTS OF THE CASE

Who are the accused

• George Degiorgio 55, unemployed, lives in St Paul's Bay, known as Ic-Ciniz
• Alfred Degiorgio, 53, unemployed lives in St Paul's Bay, known as il-Fulu
• Vincent Muscat, 55, unemployed lives in Msida, known as il-Kohhu

Who are the courtroom players

• Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit is presiding
• Inspectors Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra are prosecuting
• Deputy attorney general Philip Galea Farrugia is assiting the prosecution
• Martin Fenech is appearing for Vince Muscat
• William Cuschieri and Martha Muscat are appearing for Alfred Degiorgio
• Josette Sultana is appearing for George Degiorgio
• Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are appearing parte civile for the Daphne Caruana Galizia family

What we know so far

Caruana Galizia’s car

• The Peugeot car Daphne Caruana Galizia was driving at the time had been leased four months before
• Her son Matthew Caruana Galizia had occasionally used the car in the period
• Matthew was the last person to have parked the car outside the gate of the family’s Bidnija home
• Investigators dismantled a similar model of the car to determine whether any debris collected from the crime scene was extraneous
• This led the police to discover the presence of an electronic board, which was part of the SIM card dock on the explosive device

The ‘small white car’

• A person who spoke to the police had noticed a “small white car” frequenting a particular area at Tat-Targa Battery, part of the Victoria Lines
• On the day of the murder the white car was there but unlike previous occasions the driver was not inside
• Police noticed that next to where the car used to be parked part of a wall had collapsed and led to a place with a birds-eye view of Bidnija
• Forensic experts combed the area for any clues, including cigarette butts
• After the murder, the car was never seen again
• Given Caruana Galizia did not have a fixed pattern of movement, police believe someone was shadowing her movements

The detonator

• Location data from the Bidnija area led the police to home in on a number that received an SMS at 2.58pm and stopped broadcasting thereafter
• The number was linked to an electronic device normally found in appliances that can be activated remotely
• This device acted as the detonator of the car bomb
• The device was switched on in the Bidnija area at around 2am on 16 October
• It remained in a static location for the day until it received an SMS and disappeared

The killer SMS

• The SMS that triggered the bomb was sent from a Nokia 105 mobile phone connected to the cell tower near the YMCA in Valletta
• This phone was switched on, on the day of the explosion and started broadcasting from a cell ID near the Curia
• The signal moved to Paceville, Senglea, Rinella, Zabbar and Xghajra as it bounced from cell towers north and south of the country every hour
• The cell towers all faced seawards that led police to suspect the mobile phone was on a boat circling the island
• The number linked to the detonator and the number that sent the SMS had been set up in November 2016 and had only corresponded with each other on three occasions

The pleasure boats

• The Degiorgio brothers both own pleasure boats
• CCTV footage showed that one of them – the Maya – was spotted leaving the Grand Harbour at around 8am before turning north
• At the time the killer SMS was sent, the Maya was spotted under the Great Siege Bell area, where it stopped for a few minutes before heading towards Marsa

The top up call

• The Secret Service had intercepted a call from George Degiorgio’s phone, asking the recipient to top him up with €5
• The person was unable to and Degiorgio called another person, asking the same question “Don’t take long, if you can,” Degiorgio told the person
• The person complied and minutes later topped up the number identified by George Degiorgio
• Police obtained call profiles relating to George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat
• All mobile numbers involved were activated within 20 minutes of each other – two were activated in Senglea and the third in Hamrun

Other points

• Alfred Degiorgio's DNA matched that found on a cigarette butt, which was picked up from the Victoria Lines
• Police say Alfred Degiorgio was the spotter monitoring the Caruana Galizia household and is believed to have remained all night at the vantage point
• Alfred called his brother George Degiorgio to inform him Caruana Galizia had left the house
• The call lasted 107 seconds, which is the time it takes to drive from the house to where the bomb exploded
• After detonating the bomb by SMS, George Degiorgio messaged his wife with the words: "Buy me wine, my love."
• George Degiorgio had been telling people the day before the murder that he was going fishing
• After the incident George was heard boasting "I've caught two big fish today".
• Though unemployed, the Degiorgio brothers each owned a boat and luxury cars
• Europol experts accompanied Malta police investigations and searches when the three men were arrested