Jurors in the trial of businessman Yorgen Fenech on Thursday heard harrowing testimony from an eyewitness who described seeing Daphne Caruana Galizia alive and trapped behind the wheel moments after an initial explosion, telling the court he heard her scream before a second, far more powerful blast engulfed the car.

The court also heard evidence from residents who recalled seeing suspicious vehicles near the murder scene in the weeks leading up to the assassination, while a Europol expert testified that Yorgen Fenech did not feature among the investigative "scenarios" identified from data extracted from the journalist's mobile phone.

Jurors were also shown graphic photographs documenting the aftermath of the assassination and the journalist's post-mortem examination, including images of the destroyed vehicle, Caruana Galizia's remains and the injuries she sustained in the explosion.

Eyewitness details the moment of the explosion

Eyewitness Francis Sant saw it all play out in front of him.  He testified that he was driving from Mosta and passed across the bridge to Bidnija when he noticed a car coming in the opposite direction, with the driver inside seeming panicked.  He stopped his car, and the car opposite stopped as well.

He described seeing the driver - a woman - looking panicked and unable to move, and then seeing a spark from under the car, like a feast petard. "She was conscious at the time, jammed to the steering wheel. After another few seconds, I heard her screaming," he said. 

After the first explosion, Caruana Galizia was still alive, the witness continued, and then a second, much bigger explosion happened.  He recalled seeing body parts fly out through the windscreen and the car careen into a field before turning into a ball of fire.

Sant says that he panicked and told the driver of another car which had come in the opposite direction to call an ambulance. "In the confusion of it all, I didn't know what I was supposed to do," he said.

Matthew Caruana Galizia appeared soon after and that made Sammut realise who the victim had been. He said that he was under severe shock, and he gave his statement to the police in the evening at his home.

Residents living close by recall seeing suspicious vehicles weeks before murder

A couple who live close to the Victoria Lines, overlooking Bidnija, testified that they remember seeing two vehicles parked close by for long periods of time in the run-up to the murder.

Carmel Wallace Sammut recalled seeing a white rental car parked in the area - something which he said was unusual for the area.

"The first time I saw the car, it was parked near the barriers. There was a person inside. Then I started seeing it more frequently," he says.

He also recalled a silver Peugeot car parked in the road, which only appeared in the week before the murder, and including hours before the murder.  After the murder, he never saw the cars again.

Under cross-examination, he said that the silver car used to be parked in such a way that it would block the road - but nobody would be inside it. He is also asked about his description of the man inside the car as being "stiff."

"He kept looking straight ahead. I don't know, go figure. Everyone's wiser after the fact," he says. 

Sammut's wife, Maria Sammut Grech, was the next on the witness stand and she noted similar patterns with regards to the two vehicles.  She said that she only saw the silver car once, and it had two men inside it at that time.

On the day of the crime she said that she saw the white car parked there in the morning when she left the house.  When she returned home at 1pm and left again at 2:30pm, the car was still there.

Daphne Caruana Galizia was investigating 'seven scenarios' - but Yorgen Fenech wasn't one of them

Europol expert Marius van der Meer testified about a report which was compiled on the data extracted from Daphne Caruana Galizia's phone, which the court heard on Wednesday was found under the left wheel of her car at the crime scene.

Van der Meer said that based on the data that he analysed, Caruana Galizia had been investigating seven "scenarios" at the time of her murder.  He clarified however that his job was not to identify any suspects.

The defence asked the expert about these scenarios, and specifically whether Keith Schembri's name cropped up anywhere, particularly within the context of scandals related to the Panama Papers, passport kickbacks, or other "investment scandals."

"No one person was identified or mentioned by me as a possible instigator through the possible scenarios," van der Meer replied.

Van der Meer also said that someone else had cloned the phone, and he had just been given the extracted data which was in English.  He did not put together data that was in Maltese, he said.

Defence lawyer Gianella De Marco then asked about Chris Cardona, and the expert confirmed that Cardona is mentioned in the report in connection with the golden passports scheme and the brothel scandal that he had been caught up in.

She then asked: "Am I correct that Yorgen Fenech does not feature in any scenarios?"

The expert confirms that Fenech did not feature, and his testimony concluded.

Crime scene sealed as multiple investigation zones established

Police Constable Clinton Vella, testifying on behalf of a group of around 10 officers appointed as court experts in 2017, told jurors that investigators took extensive precautions to preserve the integrity of the crime scene following the car bomb that killed Caruana Galizia.

Vella explained that officers only entered the area after it had been declared safe from any explosive hazards, wearing protective clothing as they began documenting the site and collecting evidence. Their role was to secure and preserve the crime scene, recover evidence and assist experts from the Netherlands Forensic Institute during the forensic examination.

Jurors were shown aerial photographs of the scene, including images revealing the crater left in the road by the explosion, as well as photographs of the burnt-out vehicle from several angles.

Vella said investigators established that Caruana Galizia's car had been parked outside her home only minutes before the blast. As a result, her residence was preserved and treated as a secondary crime scene.

Investigators also identified an area overlooking Bidnija and the explosion site where a cigarette and several cigarette butts were recovered. That location was likewise cordoned off and examined as a secondary crime scene.

He told the court that police officers and soldiers secured both the immediate explosion site and the area surrounding Caruana Galizia's residence while paramedics covered the victim's remains with white sheets before the forensic examination began.

Evidence recovered from explosion site detailed

Vella outlined the painstaking process of recovering evidence from the scene, telling jurors that investigators collected not only fragments of the destroyed vehicle but also biological material and personal effects scattered by the force of the blast.

Jurors were also shown photographs of a piece of clothing caught on a nearby barbed wire fence, illustrating the force with which debris had been propelled across the area.

The court also heard that investigators carefully documented every item recovered before it was catalogued and submitted as evidence.

SOCO Inspector Kevin Manicolo later took the witness stand and described how forensic officers divided responsibilities upon arriving at the scene, assigning different investigators to photography, documentation and evidence collection while ensuring the integrity of the crime scene was maintained throughout the operation.

Graphic post-mortem evidence shown to jury

Much of the afternoon was devoted to the presentation of graphic forensic evidence documenting the injuries suffered by Caruana Galizia.

Manicolo guided jurors through the condition of the victim's body following the explosion, explaining that one side had sustained extensive burns.

He said the head and upper body were found lodged between the passenger seat and the adjacent door, while the lower body remained between the driver's seat and the steering wheel. Although the victim's right leg remained inside the vehicle, part of her foot had been severed.

Jurors were then shown a series of highly graphic photographs taken before the body was removed from the vehicle, including images of the remains lying inside the wreckage and the detached section of the victim's foot recovered outside the car.

Further images showed the body after it had been placed on a white sheet and later inside a body bag before jurors were presented with photographs taken during the post-mortem examination documenting the injuries to the head, upper body and lower body.

The courtroom fell silent as the photographs were displayed one after another, with jurors showing no visible reaction despite their graphic nature.

Vehicle remains and forensic documentation exhibited

Proceedings later shifted to the formal presentation of the physical evidence recovered from the scene.

Witnesses guided jurors through the reference numbers under which every photograph and item had been catalogued, sealed and documented as part of the investigation.

The court was shown further photographs of the vehicle's interior and the extensive damage caused by the explosion, together with images documenting how the car was removed from the scene.

One photograph showed the vehicle being lifted by crane, exposing a hole in its underside caused by the blast, while another depicted the scorched vegetation beneath the wreckage where Caruana Galizia's mobile phone was recovered near the rear wheel.

Witnesses also exhibited several parts of the vehicle salvaged during the forensic examination, including sections of the dashboard and a headrest.

A scene-of-crime officer responsible for videography told jurors his role was to film every sector of the crime scene, with the footage subsequently saved onto CDs and documented in accordance with investigators' instructions.

The final witness of the day explained the annexes, receipts and documentation accompanying the evidence submission forms, outlining which police officer had recovered each item of evidence and the reference code assigned to it before proceedings were adjourned until Friday.