Jail interview of man who allegedly detonated car bombs – Will implicate others in plot to kill Maltese journalist
The man accused of detonating explosives packed into a car, killing a prominent Maltese journalist in 2017 Daphne Caruana Galizia she confessed to the crime in an interview with a Reuters reporter and said she would soon implicate others in her murder plan.
Speaking from prison in his first statements on the case, Mr George Degiorgio he said that if he knew more about Galizia – the journalist he and two others are accused of murdering in 2017 – then he would ask for more money to carry out the murder.
“If I had known, I would have asked for 10 million. No 150,000”he stressed, referring to the amount in euros he said was paid for the journalist’s murder.
“For me it was just a job. Yes. Same here!” he told a Reuters reporter. And he added later: “Of course I’m sorry.”
The interview with Degiorgio was conducted during research for a podcast on the Caruana Galizia case, titled “Who Killed Daphne?” (Who Killed Daphne?)
His confession came after several attempts by Degiorgio’s lawyers since 2021 to secure a pardon in exchange for testimony about his role in the murder of Caruana Galizia and other alleged crimes involving prominent figures in Malta.
On June 22, the Court of Appeal Malta dismissed Degiorgio’s remaining legal challenges to the murder charges against him and his brother Alfred, who is a co-defendant. The decision clears the way for the trial to proceed.
The car bomb murder of the investigative journalist and blogger sent shockwaves across Europe. Maltese authorities accuse Degiorgio and two other men – his brother Alfred and an associate, Vince Muscat – of murdering Caruana Galizia in October 2017 on the orders of a top businessman in the country.
Degiorgio told Reuters he would plead guilty before any jury trial. “I’ll talk to the judge,” he said. He hinted that he would testify to implicate others in the murder and an earlier plot to kill the journalist, which was not executed. His motive, he said, is to seek a reduced sentence for himself and Alfred and to ensure that “we don’t go down alone!”
Until now, both Degiorgio brothers had denied involvement in the murder. Muscat pleaded guilty to murder charges in 2020 and received a reduced 15-year prison sentence in exchange for testifying in that case and some other crimes.
One of the island’s richest businessmen, Jørgen Fenek, was also accused in November 2019 of instructing Degiorgio and his two accomplices to carry out the hit. Fenech has denied the charges but has yet to present his defence. In a statement, his lawyer, Gianluca Caruana Curran, said Fenech plans to prove in court that he “in no way wanted, actively sought or financed” Caruana Galizia’s murder.
“While adamantly pleading not guilty, Fenech maintains that with the available evidence, independent and serious investigations can lead to the arrest and indictment of the real perpetrators behind the murder.”
Fenech was identified as the mastermind by an alleged middleman, taxi driver Melvin Teuma, who escaped prosecution for his role in the case in exchange for testifying. Teuma stated that he arranged the killing with the Degiorgio brothers on Fenek’s behalf. He testified that he never revealed Fenech’s identity to the Degiorgio gang.
In the interview, Degiorgio said he was willing to testify that a top Maltese political figure had tried to arrange a hit-and-run on Caruana Galizia in a separate plot two years earlier. Degiorgio also stressed that he would offer to testify about the involvement of two senior former ministers in an armed robbery.
Reuters is not releasing further details of the allegations at this stage or naming the people accused by Degiorgio, who all deny any involvement in any crime.
Caruana Galizia was murdered after she exposed a series of allegations of corruption against prominent people, including ministers in the island’s Labor Party government. Her murder raised suspicions that some of the people she was investigating could be involved in her murder plans.
Fenech, who is accused of ordering the journalist’s murder, was first identified in connection with Caruana Galizia in November 2018 articles by Reuters and the Times of Malta. The reports named him as the owner of a company known as 17 Black that Caruana Galizia claimed, without providing evidence, was used to bribe politicians. Fenech also headed a controversial power station project in Malta.
According to prosecution evidence presented in court at several preliminary hearings since 2018, George Degiorgio and his gang followed the reporter throughout the summer of 2017. In the early hours of October 16, 2017, prosecutors allege the gang planted a bomb under from a seat in her car.
That afternoon, Degiorgio was reportedly on a yacht in the island’s Grand Harbor when his brother Alfred, who was watching the house, called to say the reporter got into her car and drove off. Degiorgio then sent a text message from the yacht to a mobile device that set off the bomb, prosecutors told the court.
After the car exploded, Caruana Galizia’s son Matthew heard the explosion, ran out of the family home and found his mother’s body. Since then he has been campaigning for justice for his mother. Asked about Degiorgio’s comments, he told Reuters: “George Degiorgio’s very words show that he is a cold-blooded killer who does not deserve any reprieve.”
After being arrested two months after the murder, George Degiorgio made no statement to police, refusing to give his name during questioning. Until the Reuters interview, he remained silent and his lawyers spent four years denying involvement in the murder. He has also filed a series of legal appeals challenging the evidence against him.
But he is now seeking a deal with prosecutors, ahead of a trial, in exchange for pleading guilty to the charges and providing the new information.
Alfred Degiorgio, like his brother, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges but has not entered a defense. He has also filed multiple requests to be pardoned on charges in exchange for testifying about what he knows.
George Degiorgio said that before he took it upon himself to carry out the murderous hit, he didn’t know much about Caruana Galizia or her family, including the fact that they were ordinary people, not criminals. “That’s it. Of course! I never met her while she was alive,” he said.
The Degiorgio brothers have made several attempts since March 2021 to be formally pardoned for their crimes. The latest, filed on April 4 by their attorney, William Ciucieri, said, without naming names or details, that the Degiorgios could file “Felonies of attempted violent robbery and attempted voluntary manslaughter in which one of the masterminds was a minister and another who is a minister.” The request was rejected by the Maltese government on April 24, citing the national interest and the administration of justice, according to an official statement.
Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abella previously condemned the Degiorgios’ attempts to pardon them, calling them “criminals” seeking to buy their freedom. The two brothers’ lawyer responded by saying the prime minister was violating their rights to a fair trial and, without elaborating, said the brothers had “direct information” about a minister’s involvement in criminal activity.
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