Caruana Galizia murder: Witness recalls big spark in rear of car before explosion
Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit continued to hear evidence by the prosecution days after a judge ruled that Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta should withdraw from the case
A big spark in the rear of the car driven by Daphne Caruana Galizia preceded the bomb explosion that killed the journalist on 16 October, a witness told the Court today.
Charmaine Abela told Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit that, on that day, she was going to Bidnija at around 2.55pm and that she had been around 30 metres from Caruana Galizia’s car when it exploded.
The magistrate today continued to hear witnesses in the compilation of evidence against three men accused of murdering journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.
George Degiorgio, known as ic-Ciniz, his brother Alfred Degiorgio, known as il-Fulu, and Vince Muscat, il-Kohhu are accused of killing Caruana Galizia last October using a car bomb which was detonated metres away from her Bidnija home.
Abela, who was the second witness to take the stand today, said that she had noted a big spark in the rear of Caruana Galizia's car, moments before the car exploded.
Choking back tears as she recalled the day's events, Abela said that she recalled pieces flying everywhere when the car exploded.
After the blast, which left the journalist's burnt-out car in a field, Abela pulled into a drive-in.
Asked about the explosion itself, she was adamnant about seeing a spark.
"The first one had come from the rear of the car... there was a big spark. The car then blew up and rolled into a field,” she told the Court.
Today’s sitting came days after a judge ruled that Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta must recuse himself from the investigation following a request by the Caruana Galizia family.
Follow today's live coverage here:
What happened in the last sitting
In the last sitting the court the testimony of Richard Fennern and William Shute, two FBI experts in historical cell site analysis who have been aiding local authorities with the investigation. It also heard that of a Europol explosives expert. The defence had attempted to have their testimony blocked however Stafrace Zammit allowed them to testify.
The agents gave a run down of how they determined which numbers had been used to detonate the bomb, as well as the message that ultimately activated it.
The court heard how the explosive that killed Caruana Galizia had been placed under the seat of the car because the explosion had clearly taken place inside the vehicle.
It was explained that the explosive was a high explosive that caused a “high blast shockwave and high blast overpressure in the surroundings, which had a high shattering effect. It is typical of a military explosive, such as TNT or hexogen.”
FACTS OF THE CASE
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
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 Mifsud are appearing for Alfred Degiorgio
- Josette Sultana is appearing for George Degiorgio
- Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are appearing parte civile for the 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 facts
- 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