Judge expected to wrap up trial tomorrow

Judge Edwina Grima is expected to conclude her address to jurors on Wednesday, bringing the trial of businessman Yorgen Fenech close to its final stage.

Once the judge finishes summing up the evidence and explaining the relevant points of law, the jurors will retire to deliberate and decide on their verdict.

Fenech is accused of complicity in the October 2017 murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and of conspiring to have her killed. He denies all the charges. A guilty verdict could result in a life sentence.

On Tuesday, Grima continued taking the jury through the evidence presented during the trial in chronological order. Her summary covered testimony from the three convicted hitmen, murder middleman Melvin Theuma, former chief of staff Keith Schembri, Fenech’s family doctor Adrian Vella and members of Caruana Galizia’s family.

The jury was reminded how self-confessed hitman Vince Muscat described staking out the journalist’s home before her assassination. George and Alfred Degiorgio implicated Schembri and former minister Chris Cardona but declined to answer several follow-up questions.

Grima also revisited evidence from Fenech associate Johann Cremona, who admitted warning him that Theuma was secretly recording conversations, and Kenneth Camilleri, a former bodyguard of then-prime minister Joseph Muscat, who said Schembri had sent him to meet Theuma.

Vella testified that he had delivered documents collected from Schembri’s home to Fenech. He also described Fenech’s anxiety and cocaine use during a trip to Gozo shortly before his arrest.

Caruana Galizia’s husband Peter and son Matthew told the court she had been working intensively on leaked Electrogas material before she was killed. They also described the devastating impact of the assassination on their family.

The judge devoted much of the afternoon to Theuma’s evidence. Theuma claimed Fenech commissioned the murder and paid €150,000 for the hit. The defence challenged his credibility, highlighting his criminal connections and occasions when he admitted lying or bluffing.

Grima is expected to examine Fenech’s lengthy testimony on Wednesday before completing her address. The jurors will then begin deliberations.