Sources close to the investigation into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia say that the three men who were last week arraigned over the car bomb attack have remained totally silent even after their arraignment.
Talk of the possibility of a presidential pardon has not appeared to sway the suspects’ resolve. Media reports prior to the arraignment had said that the three men had also remained completely silent in the 36 hours between their arrest and court appearance.
Vince Muscat, 55, also known as 'il-Kohhu', and brothers Alfred Degiorgio, 52, 'il-Fulu' and George Degiorgio, 54, 'ic-Ciniz' were arraigned in court on Tuesday 5 December before duty magistrate Neville Camilleri. They were charged with murder, conspiracy, forming part of a criminal gang, using explosives to kill, being in possession of explosives and relapsing.
All three pleaded not guilty and were remanded in custody. Their financial assets were also frozen by the court.
Sources also say that they do not exclude that more people were involved in the case, but so far no other arraignments have taken place.
The three were part of a group of 10 men arrested on the morning of Monday 4 December in an operation that involved the police, Armed Forces and the secret service. This included a raid at Lighters Wharf in Marsa where, it is believed, the gang discussed and planned the murder.
The remaining seven men were released on police bail but investigators are still looking at possible links between them and the murder.
Investigators behind the arrests have told this newspaper that they would not object to the granting of presidential pardons for those who have been arraigned, as long as they cough up the name or names of whoever commissioned the deed.
It is however early days since the three would have to be found guilty in a court of law.
The prospect of the murder having been commissioned appears all the more likely given that Caruana Galizia had never written about Muscat, Degiorgio, or Degiorgio, as her family confirmed last week.
They will now appear in court before Magistrate Donatella Frendo Dimech on Thursday morning, when the compilation of evidence against them will get underway.
Police have a ‘very strong case’
According to details leaked to the Italian media and later confirmed by the Maltese police sources the bomb was detonate by an SMS that was sent from aboard a yacht out at sea.
Investigators believe that the text message was sent by George Degiorgio, who topped up his mobile credit minutes before sending the fatal SMS. The other two men were reportedly acting as spotters in the vicinity of the journalist’s home. According to reports in Italian newspapers George Degiorgio sent another message to his wife, shortly after the explosion, telling her to ‘open up a bottle of wine.’
Our sources had also revealed that the type of explosive used was TNT, not Semtex, as had previously been reported.
The same sources also claimed that the police have 'a very strong case' against the people charged with the murder. “We have been monitoring this group for ages and finally they made a mistake and we could nail them. Our main aim is that they never get out of there [prison].”
The “mistake” sources refer to is George Degiorgio topping up his phone credit.
The authorities managed to locate the suspects in the case through 'electronic communication'. This data was provided thanks to the equipment provided by the FBI. Besides the data from phone calls and text messages relating to the case, the police were also able to retrieve 'tangible evidence' on site in Marsa, where the police and AFM raids took place. The suspects were located through phone calls between suspects and triangulation data which helps pinpoint location of suspects.