The trial by jury of Yorgen Fenech over the assassination of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia resumes on Tuesday before Judge Edwina Grima, with the defence set to continue its cross-examination of Assistant Police Commissioner Keith Arnaud.

Arnaud’s cross-examination by the defence started on Monday afternoon and will proceed throughout Tuesday as the trial enters its second week.

On Friday and Saturday, Arnaud gave a detailed account of how the investigation evolved following the arrest of Melvin Theuma in November 2019. The jury heard how secret recordings made by Theuma, conversations retrieved from the encrypted messaging app Signal, and data extracted from Yorgen Fenech's mobile phone became central pieces of evidence that significantly advanced the murder investigation.

On Monday, Arnaud presented further evidence recovered from Fenech's mobile phone, recordings made by state witness Melvin Theuma and messages exchanged with former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and others in the days leading up to Fenech's arrest.

Fenech, 44, has pleaded not guilty to two principal charges: complicity in the wilful homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia and criminal association to commit the murder.

Arnaud, the lead investigator in the case, testified for a whole day on Friday, giving an account of the police investions that led to arrests after the journalist was killed in a car bomb on 16 October, 2017.

Five men have already been convicted in connection with Caruana Galizia's assassination. Vince Muscat admitted his role in the murder in 2021 and was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment. Alfred and George Degiorgio each received 40-year prison sentences after pleading guilty in 2022, while Robert Agius and Jamie Vella were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2025 for supplying the bomb used in the attack.

The prosecution is being led by Attorney General lawyers Godwin Cini, Anthony Vella and Danika Vella, assisted by Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra. Fenech is represented by lawyers Charles Mercieca, Gianella Demarco and Gianluca Caruana Curran, while lawyers Therese Comodini Cachia and Jason Azzopardi are appearing parte civile on behalf of the Caruana Galizia family.

Judge Edwina Grima is presiding over the case.

10:25: De Marco continued by asking Arnaud to confirm whether Vince Muscat had mentioned Chris Cardona, George Degiorgio, David Gatt and Jamie Vella within the context of a plan to murder Caruana Galizia.

Arnaud confirmed that this was what Muscat had testified, but added that Muscat had then said that the plot was cancelled and that there is no evidence to show that it was ever re-activated.  He added that Melvin Theuma – the pardoned middleman in this case – never featured in that plot.

Arnaud said that as far as he recalls, Muscat had driven Alfred Degiorgio to meet with Cardona after the murder had happened with the aim of getting information about how the investigations were ongoing.

De Marco asked whether there were meetings before the murder, to which Arnaud replied that he does not remember with certainty, but his impression was that they were after the murder, not before.

10:05: Cross-examination continues, with questions focused on the lawyer and former police officer David Gatt, and his alleged ties to the Degiorgio brothers.

Arnaud said that Gatt did visit the Marsa potato shed where the hitmen were arrested, and that Gatt had also visited the brothers in prison, telling officials that he was representing them as their lawyer. Gatt, however, never appeared in court representing the brothers, Arnaud pointed out, adding that at that point one of the brothers had resorted to using a legal aid lawyer.

De Marco referred to testimony from one of the hitmen – Vince Muscat – who had said that Gatt used to mention Caruana Galizia and make hand gestures which implied an explosion both before and after her murder.

She also referred to a person who Muscat had referred to as “Number One” – whom he later identified as Keith Schembri.

Arnaud confirmed that Muscat had mentioned Schembri during his testimony before the public inquiry in 2021, and added that George Degiorgio had also testified that Gatt had once told him that he was speaking to Schembri over the phone.

09:55: The defence’s next line of questioning centres on Daphne Caruana Galizia’s laptop, and what access police had to it.

Arnaud confirmed that investigators wanted to examine the laptop to try and understand what stories the journalist was working on before she was killed, with this possibly leading police to the motive behind her assassination.

He continued that the Caruana Galizia family provided the police with information about the stories that the journalist had been investigated.

When asked whether the police ever had direct access to the laptop, Arnaud replied that the information had been given by Matthew Caruana Galizia – one of Daphne’s sons. “I never met a person whose mother was killed and who tried to take me for a ride,” he said.

09:40: One of Fenech’s defence lawyers Gianella de Marco starts the cross-examination by asking Arnaud about Anthony Sammut – who is perhaps better known as Toni l-Iblaħ.

Sammut worked in the ministry of Chris Cardona, and he was mentioned in a letter which was passed onto Fenech after he was arrested – a letter which tried to pin Caruana Galizia’s murder on Cardona.

Arnaud is shown a court decree which lists Sammut as a person of interest in the murder investigation, and is asked whether it had been mentioned that Sammut used to hang out at the Marsa potato shed and whether he knew the hitmen.

Arnaud replied that he first heard of Sammut in that letter, and that he “never featured” in the investigation.  Arnaud said that he learnt of Sammut’s ties to the hitmen in 2019.

The defence also asked about another person who was close to Cardona: Anthony Chetcuti, known as il-Biglee.

Arnaud replied that evidence never led the police to these two men, and that investigators only preserved their phone evidence.

09:16: Judge Edwina Grima has entered the courtroom, as have the jurors.  Proceedings for the day may now get underway.

09:00: Good morning, and welcome to this live blog for what is the sixth day of the trial of Yorgen Fenech.  

Today's sitting is scheduled to get underway shortly, and will run till around 6pm with a break for lunch in the afternoon.