Fenech defence: Evidence pointing to Keith Schembri was deliberately blocked by police

Evidence potentially implicating former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia was deliberately ignored or left uncollected by the police, Yorgen Fenech’s defence claimed on Wednesday.

Continuing his submissions before jurors, defence lawyer Charles Mercieca described the murder investigation as “bad and dirty” and claimed there had been a concerted effort to prevent investigators from following leads towards Schembri.

“All roads and bridges leading to Keith Schembri were burnt,” Mercieca told the court, arguing that jurors were being asked to decide Fenech’s future based on a “botched investigation”.

Fenech is accused of complicity in Caruana Galizia’s October 2017 murder. He denies the charges.

Mercieca said investigators failed to seize Schembri’s mobile phone and laptop or obtain his WhatsApp exchanges with doctor Adrian Vella, who testified that he acted as a messenger between Schembri and Fenech following the businessman’s arrest.

The lawyer noted that Schembri was reportedly seen holding a phone at Castille a week after his home was searched, despite claiming that his device had been lost. Investigators also failed to secure potentially relevant devices belonging to Johann Cremona and former OPM security officer Kenneth Camilleri, the defence said.

“How can you have a fair investigation if you don’t bring the evidence?” Mercieca asked.

He also questioned why police did not obtain call profiles that could have independently confirmed or disproved middleman Melvin Theuma’s account. According to the defence, Fenech’s call data for 2017 and 2018 was not collected, while potential witnesses, including Mario Degiorgio and Theuma’s stepdaughter, were not called to testify.

Mercieca claimed the prosecution’s case rested almost entirely on Theuma, whose version he described as a “fairytale”. He alleged that Theuma’s presidential pardon carried an “unwritten condition” that he should not implicate Schembri.

The lawyer also challenged the prosecution’s claim that Fenech ordered the murder to stop Caruana Galizia from publishing information about Electrogas and 17 Black.

He said no evidence had been produced establishing what the journalist was preparing to publish, while her laptop – the most direct potential source of such information- was never presented in evidence.

Mercieca argued that the bomb was already in Malta in January 2017, before the April 2017 meeting at which Theuma claimed Fenech gave the murder order.

“This was about revenge,” he said, suggesting that the political timing of the plot made more sense if the mastermind had a direct interest in the 2017 general election.

The defence also cited testimony and information involving hitmen George Degiorgio and Vincent Muscat, which Mercieca said pointed towards Schembri and former minister Chris Cardona.

He described Schembri, Theuma and Cremona as a “triumvirate of liars” protecting one another.

Mercieca reminded jurors that prosecutors were required to prove Fenech’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt. If even one reasonable doubt remained, he said, they were legally bound to acquit him.