Ex-Chief of Staff for Malta’s Former Prime Minister Testifies Against Childhood Friend Accused of Ordering Journalist’s Murder

Ex-Chief of Staff for Malta’s Former Prime Minister Testifies Against Childhood Friend Accused of Ordering Journalist’s Murder Keith Schembri, the former chief of staff to Malta’s former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, testified this week that Yorgen Fenech, a Maltese businessman on trial for allegedly ordering the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, admitted to being involved in her killing. Schembri described a conversation with Fenech during which the latter claimed responsibility for the murder, though he emphasized that he did not share the information with anyone, including his former boss. The testimony took place in a courtroom in Valletta, the Maltese capital. The incident occurred in late 2017, shortly after Caruana Galizia, 53, was killed by a bomb placed under her car seat and detonated remotely via SMS. Her death followed years of investigative journalism focused on corruption within Muscat’s administration. Five men have been convicted in connection with the murder, while Schembri, who served as Muscat’s influential chief of staff, remains uncharged in the case. However, he is currently facing additional charges related to alleged leaks from the murder investigation and for his role in securing a government position for Melvin Theuma, a confessed middleman in the case who was later pardoned in exchange for cooperating with authorities. Fenech, who has consistently denied wrongdoing, is accused of complicity and criminal association in the murder. He has long maintained that Schembri ordered the killing, a claim echoed by two of the three convicted hitmen. During his testimony, Schembri categorically denied any involvement in the crime or its execution, asserting that he had no connection to the murder or the individuals responsible. The prosecution relies heavily on more than 10 hours of audio recordings made by Theuma, who confessed to acting as a middleman in the plot. On these tapes, Fenech reportedly told Theuma twice that Schembri had “gone into the fire” for him. When asked about the meaning of this phrase in court, Schembri explained that he had supported Fenech due to their longstanding friendship. He also denied allegations that he had shared information from the murder investigation. Schembri and Fenech have been close friends since their teenage years, with their families maintaining friendly ties. Schembri confirmed that he was part of a WhatsApp group that included Fenech and Silvio Valletta, the deputy police commissioner, who was later removed from the murder investigation. Communication between the two men continued until the night before Fenech’s arrest on November 20, 2019. Messages retrieved from Signal, a secure messaging app, showed Fenech pleading for help and urging support. Schembri’s personal phone has never been recovered. Forensic experts testified that the device was last active at 5:03 am near his residence, approximately an hour before law enforcement arrived to detain him. Schembri claimed that workers may have taken the phone, though this explanation lacks formal documentation, official records, or photographic evidence of the scene. Defense attorneys pointed out that this assertion does not appear in any official statements or reports. During the first day of his testimony on July 28, Schembri accused two of Fenech’s legal representatives, Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran, of offering a key prosecution witness 600,000 euros to testify in Fenech’s favor. Both defense lawyers denied the accusation in court. As the trial continues, the testimonies and evidence will remain central to determining the fate of both men, whose lives have become entangled in one of Malta’s most high-profile and controversial cases.