It took just a few minutes to place the bomb inside the car journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was using on the night before her murder, a court heard Saturday.

Vince Muscat, il-Kohhu, continued his testimony which he started Friday in the ongoing trial of the four men accused of murdering lawyer Carmel Chircop and Caruana Galizia.

Muscat had pleaded guilty in 2021 to his role in the murder of Caruana Galizia. On the same day, he was granted a presidential pardon in exchange for full disclosure about the Chircop case.

Adrian Agius stands accused of commissioning the murder of Carmel Chircop, with his brother Robert Agius, Jamie Vella, and George Degiorgio accused of complicity in the killing.

All four men deny the charges. Robert Agius and Degiorgio are also accused of involvement in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Muscat told the court that on 15 October at night, a day before the Caruana Galizia murder, he had received a call from Alfred Degiorgio, telling him that her car was outside of her home. Degiorgio told Muscat to go to the Santa Venera garage alone and take it to Bidnija.

The witness testified that the Degiorgo brothers were not the sort of people you would say no to, although he did so reluctantly because he was afraid of roadblocks. Muscat explained how that night, he took the bomb from the Santa Venera garage to another garage in Naxxar. 

That night, the Degiorgio brothers and Muscat decided that if Caruana Galizia's car remained outside her home, they would place the bomb there. He explained that her car was rarely parked outside her home, and so this was a rare opportunity.

The witness said that late at night, Alfred Degiorgio placed the bomb and the petrol bottle under the driver's seat in Caruana Galizia's car, while Muscat made sure that no one approached the scene.

The whole process of opening the car and placing the bomb only took a few minutes, Muscat told the court. After that, they went to the lookout spot overlooking Caruana Galizia's house.

George Degiorgio left the scene, as the plan was that he the detonation would occur while he was at sea on a boat.

Day of Caruana Galizia murder

On the day of the murder, George Degiorgio was on his boat at around 5am. He was supposed to be fishing and waiting for a call to send the message that would trigger the bomb, Muscat testified.

That morning, Muscat went to Alfred Degiorgio's flat in Mġarr, had coffee, and waited for time to pass. They then went to one of the spots that overlooked the victim's home. They sat under an umbrella and waited for a number of hours before detonating the bomb.

While Muscat and Alfred Degiorgio waited, they spotted a man and worried that they would be spotted. "If he had looked at our direction, we wouldn't have done what we did. For a moment I wish he had seen us."

At one point, George Degiorgio called the pair, asking what was taking so long. His brother told him not to call them and just wait for their signal to trigger the bomb.

At around 3pm, Alfred Degiorgio spotted a flashing light on the gate of the victim's home. "She's coming," Alfred Degiorgio said, calling his brother and telling him to be on standby. However, Caruana Galizia shortly entered her home again after coming out. At this point, Alfred updated his brother on what was happening. 

Muscat tells the court that Alfred Degiorgio told his brother off for pressing the send button too soon. According to the witness, they did not hear the bomb explode and they had already made their way back to their car when it went off.

Muscat told the court that shortly after the explosion, he turned on his car radio and heard reports of an explosion. Muscat says that he then turned on a TV and heard former PN leader Adrian Delia speaking about the murder of Caruana Galizia, but he says he cannot remember exactly what was being said.

Days after the murder, Alfred Degiorgio told (middleman) Melvin Theuma not to go near the Marsa potato shed again, as they discussed how they would get the remaining €120,000 commission for the murder.

Some days later, Muscat took Alfred Degiorgio to Marsaskala by car to get the money. The money was in a brown envelope containing €50 and €20 bills, as Muscat questioned why Theuma did not provide large bills. As they were about to leave, Degiorgio told Muscat to drive. "If something happens, I can run off with the money. You can't run that much," Degiorgio told the witness.

Muscat said that one morning, Alfred Degiorgio told him that they were expecting a raid at the Marsa potato shed on 4 December and that the police would likely arrest and arraign George Degiorgio, while he (Muscat) and Alfred would be arrested and released. He said that they were aware of the upcoming raid some three weeks before it happened.

Continuing his testimony, Vince Muscat stated that in preparation of the raid, himself, George and Alfred Degiorgio prepared the potato shed "so the police wouldn't have to hassle to search the place."

Day of arrest

On the day of the raid, Alfred Degiorgio picked up Muscat to go to the potato shed at around 5am. Muscat said  he "cleaned his car" and left it parked in Msida.

A few minutes after 8am the police came and arrested them.

The witness said the Degiorgio brothers' used to lie to him while in preventive custody. Muscat claimed that the brothers had once said that they were to leave prison on bail because they had bribed a judge with €100,000.

Muscat said he heard that Jamie Vella and Robert Agius had offered to pay his family €1,500 every month to prevent him from speaking to the police. 

Muscat also testified about a time when the Degiorgio brothers disagreed with his decision to request bail. He explained that Melvin Theuma once told Muscat that the brothers had a mobile phone inside the CCF and that they were in contact with Theuma.

The witness explained that every week, his family members would receive payments ranging between €100 and €200. But during prison visits, one of his family members told him that she was uncomfortable with the money, and later asked that they stop. 

Muscat said he was under the impression that the money was coming from Melvin Theuma. 

The days before the Caruana Galizia murder

Days before she was assassinated, Caruana Galizia had been followed to an Independence Day event and Notte Bianca.

Asked about when the journalist had been stalked, Muscat said that he had followed Caruana Galizia and her husband to the Phoenicia Hotel on Independence Day.

He then speaks about another time when Daphne was followed in Valletta during the Notte Bianca a few days before her murder.

Muscat says that when they got wind that Caruana Galizia could be at the Notte Bianca, they moved the bomb to a Santa Venera garage as they thought about placing it in her car on that night. He explains that they moved it to Santa Venera because it was closer to Valletta, and so it was less likely that they would encounter traffic while transporting it to Valletta.

Muscat said that on the night of the Notte Bianca, they scoured Floriana and Valletta to find Caruana Galizia's car. He testified that at one point during the night, George Degiorgio said, "I don't care who is with her. We'll blow her up nonetheless." However, they never found the car that night.

With regard to the code that set off the bomb, Muscat said the long code was sent by text message. He told the court that the bomb had a sim card very much like that of a mobile phone. "It's like you have two mobile phones," he testified.

The witness stated that George Degiorgio had the mobile phone on which the code was sent. The code contained many numbers so that the detonating message could never be sent mistakenly.

According to Muscat, Jamie Vella and Robert Agius gave the assassins the code used to detonate the bomb.

Criss-examination

Resuming his testimony after lunch, Muscat explained the layout of the garage where Carmel Chircop was shot. He also goes through the route that was taken by Chircop's killers to get to the victim.

Asked whether he recognises anyone in the courtroom, Muscat identifies the four accused.

He said that when they were expecting to be raided, the Degiorgio brothers would whisper in each other's ear and would stop talking when he would approach. He added that on one occasion when the accused were in the potato shed, George Degiorgio was ecstatic when he heard that the bombs had arrived in Malta.

On cross-examination, Muscat said he is fully certain of his testimony. He said he was always truthful to Inspectors Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra during the course of the investigations.

Muscat also maintained that he was truthful in all proceedings. "The truth doesn't change does it?" the defence asks, to which he responds "Absolutely not."

When asked whether he wanted anything in return for sharing details, Muscat says that he wanted the families of the victims to know the truth, and that he wanted a presidential pardon.

Muscat is then asked whether he consents to Arthur Azzopardi, his former lawyer, speaking out about the pair's conversation, but he declines to consent. The witness also confirms that he had spoken about other murder cases separate from the Caruana Galizia and Chircop murders.

Muscat was grilled by the defence on his motives behind testifying and telling all about the murders, as he admitted that he would've spoken about the other murders if he was given a pardon or a reduced sentence.

Speaking specifically about the Chircop murder, Muscat said that he was not present when the Agius brothers commissioned it. He said that he was not present when George Degiorgio was first told about the intention to kill Chircop. 

The defence asked Muscat whether he knew about the motive behind Chirchop's murder, to which he repeated that this was to do with a sum of almost €800,000 loaned by Carmel Chircop and an expensive villa owned by one of the Maksar brothers.

During the cross-examination, Muscat repeated the phrase "I don't remember," especially when confronted with contradictory testimony.

Asked who came up with the plan to kill Carmel Chircop, Muscat chooses not to respond and said he doesn't remember whether the hitmen informed the Agius brothers of how they were to kill the lawyer.

Muscat said he did not remember how many times the hitmen stalked the lawyer to figure out his routine.

Asked how he knew where Chircop lived, Muscat stated that George Degiorgio knew that he lived in Birkirkara. He said that Robert or Adrian Agius "probably" told them about the address. Muscat could not definitively say who gave them the address.

Neither was he certain of the first time he ever saw Chircop. 

The cross-examination will continue Monday.