An eyewitness who saw Daphne Caruana Galizia’s car explode has told the court of the horrific scene he saw on the day of the murder.

Francis Sant, a Bidnija resident, was driving up the hill towards the hamlet at around 3pm on 16 October 2017 when he spotted Caruana Galizia’s white car coming towards him.

Sant testified in court this morning as the compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech continued. Fenech is accused of masterminding the murder.

Speaking in a soft voice, Sant recalled how Caruana Galizia’s car suddenly slowed down and he sensed something was wrong.

“The person inside the car appeared to be panicking. It made me afraid. I heard a small bang, like fireworks. Then I heard a piercing scream,” Sant told the court.

‘It was so cruel’

He said that a second, much larger explosion happened a few seconds later and the car came towards him, past the wall and into the field.

“I saw parts of her ripped off… It was terrible. Then I saw blood... I realised they were human parts. I could do nothing… It was so cruel,” Sant testified.

He recalled how he then saw a young man, Daphne’s son Matthew, come running down the hill with tears in his eyes.

Sant had already testified in February 2018 in the compilation of evidence against the three men accused of executing the murder.

His testimony today, followed that of Inspector Antoine Cilia from the police’s Rapid Intervention Unit, who described the scene he found at Bidnija on the day of the murder.

Cilia said the police received a call from an eyewitness who saw the explosion and reported seeing a person inside the car.

At Bidnija, Cilia found “car parts and body parts scattered around”.

He confirmed that other officers were trying to calm down an argument between Matthew Caruana Galizia and a man with the surname Vella.

Cilia told the court that Caruana Galizia was upset because the man was taking photos. The other man was upset because his phone was broken.

Cilia told the court he tried to calm Vella down, telling him Caruana Galizia had just lost his mother in the blast.

Car roof ripped off

The inspector recounted how he approached the car, which had its roof ripped off. A human figure could be seen in the driver’s seat, badly burnt, he said.

Cilia said a fire engine was about to drive over a car key, which he picked up. The key matched that of a Peugeot vehicle. The inspector said he also sealed off the crime scene to avoid people from trespassing.

Cilia said he prepared a four-page report on what he found at the crime scene and even took photos himself. The report was presented to magistrate [now judge] Anthony Vella, who eventually carried out the magisterial inquiry into the murder.

Responding to questions from the defence, Cilia said it was Inspector Kurt Zahra who told him to draw up the report and provide updates of the officers involved.

Other police officers who were on duty on the day of the murder also testified, confirming evidence that has already been heard.

A police officer said that he searched a van that exited an alley in the area of the blast. The officer was instructed by his superiors to take note of any vehicle that might leave the area. The van was driven by an elderly man and had farming tools inside it. The details of the vehicle and the driver were handed over to Cilia.

Scuffle with Matthew Caruana Galizia

Mario Vella, the man who got into an argument with Matthew Caruana Galizia, took the witness stand.

Vella lives in Bidnija and told the court that he was in Mosta when the bomb went off. His daughter called him, fearing that something could have happened at their farm.

The witness said he headed back home and found a burning car in Bidnija. Someone called Sant told him that people were trapped inside the vehicle.

Vella told the court that he called his siblings and told them to avoid the area. He then got into his car and asked police if he could leave. As he was about to leave, Vella said a young man (Matthew Caruana Galizia) came up to him and angrily accused him of taking pictures of his mother.

The witness said police took the phone and told him there were no pictures. Vella said he gave the phone to Caruana Galizia to check it out for himself at which point he smashed it on the ground.

“I don’t blame him, he was angry,” Vella testified, adding that it was at this point that he approached Caruana Galizia and a scuffle broke out between the two.

Asked by the magistrate point blank whether he took photos of the crime scene, Vella responded “no”. He did not take the incident further.

Testimony behind closed doors

The last witness of the day was Inspector Kurt Zahra who testified behind closed doors on a request for pardon made to the police by Fenech when he was in custody in November 2019.

 

Last sitting

In the last sitting, Superintendent Keith Arnaud revealed that police had been informed of “escape preparations” by Yorgen Fenech before his arrest on 19 November 2019.

'K', taken to be Keith Schembri, was mentioned as checking if the airport is safe.

In one of the messages sent on the eve of his arrest, Fenech told Schembri “don't leave me alone”. The Tumas Group magnate asked whether “they were going to come today”, to which Schembri replied in the negative.

Daphne Caruana Galizia died in a car bomb explosion outside her home in Bidnija in October 2017. Three men - George Degiorgio, Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat - are facing charges of having executed the crime in separate proceedings.

All suspects are pleading not guilty.

The court heard last week how Fenech had asked Schembri about Melvin Theuma's pardon, even requesting to see the draft terms of the pardon. Fenech himself had drawn the police's attention to a photo on his mobile phone of the pardon's MOU, claiming that Schembri had sent him this photo.

At this stage, only Arnaud, the Attorney General, and the Commissioner of Police had access to the draft pardon.

Theuma is the self-confessed middleman between Fenech and the three men who executed the crime.

Arnaud confirmed that Fenech had sent a Whatsapp message to Joseph Muscat back in January 2019, saying “We need to talk”. Muscat replied back in the affirmative.

The WhatsApp group had been set up two days before the Degiorgio brothers and Vince Muscat were arraigned in court over Daphne's murder. The chats within this group, while having nothing to do with the murder, were the subject of Muscat's interrogation last August.

The court also heard the testimony of Matthew Caruana Galizia, who said his mother had been investigating an Electrogas email leak before her murder.

Caruana Galizia told the court that Fenech had been a key person in the consortium and also planned to replicate the Electrogas project in Bangladesh with a 30% stake. None of the other Electorgas shareholders had a stake in the Bangladeshi project.

Courtroom players

Magistrate Rachel Montebello is presiding.

Superintendent Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra are prosecuting, aided by Deputy Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia.

Fenech’s defence lawyers are Marion Camilleri, Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran.

Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are appearing parte civile for the Caruana Galizia family.