Maksar gang trial: Last person to see Daphne Caruana Galizia alive describes horrific car explosion

A man who witnessed the car bombing that killed journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has told jurors that he saw her panicked behind the wheel shortly before the explosion.

The testimony came during the trial of brothers Adrian and Robert Agius, known as Tal-Maksar, and their associates Jamie Vella and George Degiorgio.

The four are being tried over two separate murders, that of Caruana Galizia in 2017 and of lawyer Carmel Chircop in 2015.
The accused face life imprisonment if found guilty. They have all pleaded not guilty.

A nine-person jury, made up of six men and three women, is hearing the case. On day three of the trial, Francis Sant, who was driving from Mosta to Bidnija on 16 October 2017, recounted how he noticed something strange about a car slowing down and pulling to the side of the road.

He said the woman behind the wheel, who he did not recognise at the time, seemed panicked.

Sant described seeing a small spark beneath the vehicle, comparing it to the sort you see during fireworks, and realised the woman inside was aware something was wrong.

Moments later, Sant heard her scream from his own car before an explosion threw flames along the road. He said the car shot forward, into a field about ten feet away from him, and parts of the car’s fuel tank landed near him.

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Replying to a question by the prosecution, Sant said he froze when seeing that scene unfold in front of his eyes.

After the blast, a woman driving past with her child stopped when Sant asked her to call the police. 

Soon after, Matthew Caruana Galizia, Daphne’s son, arrived at the scene. Sant said he did not immediately recognise Matthew, due to the shock, and only realised it was him once he saw him standing near the wreckage.

Sant also recalled a policeman approaching him. He told the officer that there were people inside the wreck, describing a horrific scene with human parts scattered on the ground. 
Sant said he helped stop traffic from running over the body parts until police and crime scene officers arrived.

Suspicious cars
Another witness, Carmel Wallace Sammut, who lives close to the scene, also testified. 

He spoke about noticing suspicious activity weeks before the murder. Sammut said that at the end of August 2017, he saw a large silver Peugeot 407 parked in the area, which was strange as it was not hunting season and the area is barely populated.

Later, a white leased car with a DQZ number plate began appearing. Sammut, who was recovering from a broken leg at the time, observed the car several times, sometimes in the morning.

On the day of the murder, he saw the white car parked near his property in the morning, again at midday, and after the explosion around 3pm, he noticed it leaving and never saw it again.

He remembered once seeing a man inside the white car, who froze when he noticed Sammut approaching. Sammut became suspicious but did not report the sightings. 

The silver Peugeot stopped appearing once the white car arrived.

Sammut’s wife, Maria, also testified. She explained that unfamiliar cars usually do not linger in their area, and that the white car appeared more often than the silver one. She once saw two men inside the white car at night but could not see their faces clearly. 

Madam Justice Edwina Grima is presiding over the trial. 

Prosecutors Godwin Cini, Danika Vella, and Anthony Vella are representing the Attorney General’s office.

The defence lawyers include Nicholas Mifsud for Adrian Agius, Ishmael Psaila and Amadeus Cachia for Jamie Vella, Alfred Abela and Rene Darmanin for Robert Agius, and Noel Bianco and Leslie Cuschieri for George Degiorgio. 

Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are assisting the Caruana Galizia family, while Vince Galea is assisting the Chircop family.