The trial by jury of businessman Yorgen Fenech took another dramatic turn on Friday morning when prosecution witness Johann Cremona alleged that one of Fenech's defence lawyers had met former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri on the eve of the latter's testimony, before producing what he claimed was evidence of communications between the two.
The allegation triggered heated exchanges in court, forced Judge Edwina Grima to order a recess, appoint a court expert to examine the document, and ultimately brought Cremona's testimony to an abrupt end before the court heard evidence from several other witnesses.
Yorgen Fenech, a businessman, has pleaded not guilty to two principal charges: complicity in the wilful homicide of Daphne Caruana Galizia and criminal association to commit the murder.
Caruana Galizia, a columnist with The Malta Independent, 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.
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18:10
That wraps up Kenneth Camilleri's cross-examination.
The trial will pick up again tomorrow, when the jury is expected to hear from a new slate of witnesses.
Thanks for following our live blog. We'll be back tomorrow with all the latest from the courtroom.
18:09
The defence asks Kenneth Camilleri what he wanted to tell Keith Schembri when he phoned him immediately after meeting Melvin Theuma.
Camilleri: I wanted to ask him what he'd dragged me into by sending me there.
Camilleri repeats he later tried to get a message to Schembri through Neville Gafà, before eventually attempting to reach then-prime minister Joseph Muscat through his aide, Kurt Farrugia.
The defence asks whether Gafà ever managed to pass on his message.
Camilleri: I don't think so. He told me Keith hadn't gotten back to him.
Focus is then shifted to Camilleri's earlier statement that Muscat had told him: "I'd rather not know what's going on."
Defence lawyer Gianella De Marco turns to Camilleri's evidence that he had become afraid following his encounters with Melvin Theuma.
De Marco: You said you were frightened by the whole situation. What was it that scared you?
Camilleri: Keith was the prime minister's chief of staff. If that wouldn't make you afraid, I don't know what would.
The defence then asks why he failed to tell Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud the truth in his first police statement.
Camilleri: I didn't trust anyone.
Asked whether he trusted Arnaud personally, Camilleri says he might have, but says what happened after he testified behind closed doors only deepened his fears.
Camilleri: When I came out, someone approached me. It couldn't have been any worse than that.
The defence asks whether, during that closed-door testimony, he told investigators he was afraid of Keith Schembri.
17:59: Defence lawyer Giannella De Marco returns to Kenneth Camilleri's account of his first meeting with Melvin Theuma.
She asks him to repeat what Theuma had asked of him.
Camilleri says Theuma told him to find a way to secure bail for the Degiorgio brothers, and give them each "the bag."
Camilleri: He never mentioned money. He always spoke about "the bag." I assumed he meant cash.
Demarco asks what Theuma wanted after that.
Camilleri: His words were, "Get rid of them."
Camilleri says he immediately walked away from Theuma, leaving him by the car before calling Keith Schembri.
Demarco: Was it because you wanted to ask him, "What the hell have you dragged me into?"
Camilleri agrees. He repeats Schembri answered the call only to tell him he was in a meeting before abruptly hanging up.
17:56: The defence moves on to allegations made by Melvin Theuma about what the witness told him.
It is noted how Theuma claimed Kenneth Camilleri had told him the Degiorgio brothers would be granted bail on the 22nd and would each receive €1 million.
Camilleri rejects that version of events.
Camilleri: He never mentioned €1 million. It was always about a suitcase full of cash.
Asked why he repeatedly agreed with Theuma during their conversations, Camilleri replies, "I just wanted to get out of there."
17:54: The defence suggests that, while Kenneth Camilleri was sent to calm Melvin Theuma down, he had no idea what had triggered the situation.
Camilleri agrees.
The lawyer points out that whoever sent him clearly knew what was troubling Theuma.
Drawing on Camilleri's background in the disciplined forces, the defence asks whether he took the instruction without questioning it.
Camilleri says he later realised Schembri must have known exactly what was going on.
Camilleri: I was convinced he knew. But I also realised he'd dragged me into something I had nothing to do with.
17:52: Defence lawyer Giannella De Marco begins her cross-examination of Kenneth Camilleri.
Camilleri confirms he never spoke directly to Yorgen Fenech. The defence then turns to the meeting with Melvin Theuma.
The witness says that when Keith Schembri called him and told him Johann Cremona would pick him up, he had no idea Schembri and Cremona even knew each other.
But by the time Cremona arrived, it became clear he already knew where they were headed.
Demarco: Johann knew he was taking you to Melvin Theuma?
Camilleri: Yes.
Camilleri agrees that this meant Schembri must also have spoken to Cremona.
17:51: The prosecution continues to probe Kenneth Camilleri's links to Yorgen Fenech.
Camilleri denies ever calling Fenech to arrange a meeting.
He also denies that Fenech ever called him to arrange a meeting at Ramla taż-Żejtun.
The defence asks Camilleri whether he had any connection to Ramla taż-Żejtun, to which the witness replies, "no."
He then qualifies his answer, saying he did visit the area from time to time.
Asked what took him there, he replies, "To swim and to go canoeing."
With that, the prosecution wraps up its examination of Kenneth Camilleri.
Defence lawyer Giannella Demarco rises to begin her cross-examination.
17:48: The prosecution turns to Yorgen Fenech's police statement, in which Yorgen Fenech claimed that Keith Schembri had sent Kenneth Camilleri to kill Melvin Theuma.
Judge Edwina Grima initially tells Camilleri he does not have to answer the question, for fear of incriminating himself.
The wording of the question prompts objections, with lawyer Charles Mercieca attempting to rephrase it.
The judge intervenes and puts the question herself.
Judge Grima: Did Keith Schembri send you to Melvin Theuma to kill him?
Camilleri: No.
He dismisses the allegation outright.
17:36: Prosecutors turn to the statements Kenneth Camilleri gave lead investigator Keith Arnaud after Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination.
Camilleri admits that parts of his first statement were untrue.
Judge Edwina Grima: Why?
Camilleri: Because at the time, I didn't trust anyone.
He tells the court that the account he is giving today is the truthful one.
Prosecutor Godwin Cini walks Camilleri through several parts of his original police statement, showing discrepancies with the evidence he has given in court.
In his first statement, Camilleri had said the first meeting with Melvin Theuma happened after Johann Cremona took him to Żurrieq, and that it was Cremona who got out of the car to speak to Theuma while he remained inside without hearing the conversation.
Camilleri: That's not true.
He also rejects another part of the statement in which he had said he stayed outside while Cremona and Theuma spoke on their own.
Camilleri: That's not true either. The opposite happened.
17:27: Judge Edwina Grima says she is struggling to make sense of Camilleri's account.
If Schembri had sent him to meet Melvin Theuma, why did he never ask him how the meeting had gone?
Camilleri replies that, when he called Schembri that day, Schembri told him he was in a meeting himself, and just hung up on him.
"He never spoke to me about it again."
He insists that, at the time, he had no idea of the bigger picture. "Back then I knew nothing. I didn't know about Melvin or Yorgen. I knew nothing."
Kenneth Camilleri asks the court if he may add something to his testimony.
He says that, after giving evidence before the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination, a man he had never seen before approached him outside.
"I'm saying this for the first time today. I still don't know who he was."
According to Camilleri, the stranger told him: "You exposed Keith."
Asked how he reacted, Camilleri replies, "It frightened me. I froze."
17:24: Prosecutor Godwin Cini asks Camilleri why he stopped reporting for work.
Camilleri: I was afraid for my life.
Asked who he feared, Camilleri replies: "The people who were involved in it. The Degiorgios. Keith."
Cini then asks what he means by saying Keith Schembri was involved.
Camilleri: He stopped replying to me. He wasn't speaking to me anymore. He's the one who sent me there. I wasn't involved, was I?
17:20: Kenneth Camilleri tells the court he was approached by Muscat's head of communications, Kurt Farrugia, who asked why he wanted to meet the prime minister.
"I'm not going to tell you. I'll tell him directly," he replied to Farrugia. Camilleri later says he only revealed one detail.
"I told Kurt, It's about Keith."
He says Farrugia made no promises that a meeting would be arranged.
Camilleri says he was eventually told that if he reported for work, the prime minister would speak to him.
He did so, and says he was taken to Muscat's office.
But before he had a chance to say anything, Muscat allegedly cut him off.
Camilleri: He told me, "It's best that I don't know."
Camilleri says he left without saying a word.
Judge Grima: That doesn't make sense. He said that before you told him anything?
Camilleri: I don't know. I don't understand it either. I didn't say anything. I just walked out.
17:17: Kenneth Camilleri tells jurors he tried to get word to Keith Schembri through former OPM official Neville Gafà after their contact dwindled.
He says he would either message Gafà on WhatsApp or speak to him in person, asking him to pass on messages to Schembri.
By then, Camilleri says, he had largely stopped reporting for work.
"I didn't feel right mentally after everything that had happened," the witness says.
Camilleri says that about a month after his last meeting with Melvin Theuma, he decided to try a different route.
Instead of attempting to reach Schembri again, he contacted then-prime minister Joseph Muscat's personal assistant.
Asked why he sought out Muscat rather than Schembri, Camilleri says he felt he needed to raise the matter directly with the prime minister.
17:08: The trial resumes after the hour-long interruption, but not before Judge Edwina Grima pauses the hearing for a moment of prayer.
The judge asks everyone in Hall 22 to pray for police officers Johann Vella and Omar Sharif, who were injured in the Ta' Giorni shooting earlier today.
Officer Johann Vella is a familiar face at the law courts, where he was regularly stationed. "He's not well," the judge says.
The courtroom falls silent. Most of those present bow their heads, many making the sign of the cross.
The judge then confirms that the juror who earlier required medical attention has been examined by a doctor and is well, before proceedings get back underway.
16:07 It looks like we'll be waiting a while before the trial gets back under way.
Although the power returned within seconds, we're told court technicians have said the courtroom's audio-visual system needs at least 40 minutes to reboot. in fact, the screens in Hall 22 remain blank.
Meanwhile, the jurors have yet to return to Hall 22 after one of them earlier had to step out of the courtroom.
We remain on hold.
15:48 While we wait for the trial to resume, the power was briefly cut in Hall 22, prompting a collective groan from those inside the courtroom.
The lights flickered back on almost immediately.
15:34 We've paused briefly after one of the jurors asked to step out of the courtroom.
Judge Edwina Grima has also left the courtroom for the time being. The hearing is expected to resume shortly.
15:33 Prosecutor Godwin Cini turns to what Camilleri did after his encounters with Melvin Theuma.
Camilleri says he tried to update Keith Schembri the following day, or shortly afterwards.
Asked how he went about it, he explains that he tried to catch Schembri at his office in Castille, where they worked.
Pressed on how many times he tried, Camilleri replies that it happened more than once, but without success.
Asked why he did not simply speak to Schembri directly, Camilleri says he did go to his office, but Schembri never spoke to him.
When Cini asks why he did not call him instead, Camilleri is brief, saying "These weren't the kind of things you discuss over the phone."
15:30 Kenneth Camilleri says his final encounter with Melvin Theuma came while he was on duty with then-prime minister Joseph Muscat at parliament.
Stepping out for a coffee at a café opposite parliament, Camilleri says he received a call from Johann Cremona, who asked if they could meet there.
A short while later, Cremona turned up with Theuma by his side.
Camilleri tells jurors Theuma once again steered the conversation towards securing bail for the Degiorgio brothers. He also recalls hearing references to bags of cash.
The witness says he had heard enough.
He confirms that was the last time he ever saw Melvin Theuma.
15:10 The sitting resumes
13:11: That's it for the morning session.
The court has risen for the lunch break. We'll be back this afternoon as Kenneth Camilleri's testimony continues.
13:11: While waiting at Johann Cremona's garage, Camilleri says he unexpectedly came face to face with Melvin Theuma.
He tells jurors Theuma appeared to be in much the same state as during their first meeting.
"He was panicked," the witness tells the court. Camilleri says Theuma tried to speak to him, but he immediately warned him off.
Camilleri: I told him "Don't come near me. There's no need for you to speak to me anymore."
He says he turned around and walked straight out of the garage.
Camilleri tells the court the encounter lasted no more than a few seconds. He says Theuma appeared visibly on edge and angry, while both men seemed rattled by the situation.
Asked what was said between them, Camilleri insists there was barely any conversation before he walked away.
He says he wanted nothing to do with Theuma after their earlier meeting and simply left the garage.
Camilleri also says Theuma did not mention bail during that encounter. It was only the third time the two met that Theuma brought up the subject of bail again.
13:06: A few days later, Camilleri says he drove to Johann Cremona's garage unannounced.
He tells the court he deliberately chose not to call ahead, fearing Cremona might avoid him.
After ringing the bell, Cremona let him in and led him upstairs to his office.
"I wanted to ask him where he'd taken me that night."
Instead of answering, Camilleri says, Cremona stepped away to make him a coffee.
13:04: Kenneth Camilleri says Melvin Theuma kept pressing him about securing bail for the Degiorgio brothers.
While Johann Cremona remained seated in the car, Theuma continued following Camilleri, repeatedly bringing the conversation back to bail.
The witness says he eventually gave a non-committal response.
Camilleri: I probably told him, "Yes, we'll see." I just wanted to get away from him.
Kenneth Camilleri tells the court he never asked Theuma why he was so keen to secure bail for the Degiorgio brothers.
He insists he did not believe Keith Schembri had the power to arrange anyone's release on bail.
Asked whether he is certain that Theuma requested help with bail, Camilleri is unequivocal.
Camilleri adds that he did not ask why Theuma was seeking bail for men accused of such a serious crime.
The witness says he tried to raise the matter with Keith Schembri the following day, but never got the chance.
"Every time I went near his office, I'd be told, 'He can't speak to you.'"
12:46: The witness says that, after hearing the request, he stepped away from Theuma and immediately rang Keith Schembri.
Johann Cremona stayed in the car while Theuma remained outside.
Camilleri: I told him, "I need to speak to you."
But Schembri did not let him explain.
Camilleri: He told me he was in a meeting and hung up.
12:44: Kenneth Camilleri says Johann Cremona phoned Melvin Theuma once they arrived.
The pair stayed parked until Theuma came out and walked over to their car. Camilleri recalls that Theuma looked angry or panicked.
According to Camilleri, Theuma quickly got to the point.
"He said, 'See what you all can do to sort out bail.'
Camilleri tells the court he was taken aback when he heard Theuma mention bail.
Theuma explained that he was referring to the Degiorgio brothers.
Asked how he reacted, Camilleri's answer is brief.
"I was shocked."
12:42: The witness says he had no idea why Johann Cremona had been brought into the picture.
He tells the court he did not know whether Cremona and Melvin Theuma knew each other, nor was he aware that Cremona had any business partner.
He says Keith Schembri simply instructed him to call Cremona and ask him to pick him up.
Asked whether Cremona ever told him who they were going to meet, Camilleri replies: "No."
Camilleri says he told Cremona only that Keith Schembri had asked them to go and calm someone down.
"I told him, 'Come and pick me up. Keith called me. We're going to see someone and calm him down. We'll see what he wants.'
He says he never mentioned Melvin Theuma by name. Yet, according to Camilleri, Cremona appeared to know exactly where they were headed.
"I never told him where we were going, but somehow he knew where the place was."
Camilleri says that when Cremona picked him up, he simply carried on driving.
12:40: Prosecuting lawyer Godwin Cini asks why Camilleri did not simply ask Johann Cremona for Melvin Theuma's phone number instead of asking Johann to collect him in person.
Camilleri says he was simply following the instructions he had been given.
"Keith told me to call Johann, tell him to pick me up and go. That's what I did."
Pressed on why Cremona needed to come along in the first place, Camilleri replies that he has no idea.
"You'll have to ask him," the witness says.
Camilleri says it was not unusual for Keith Schembri to ask him to contact or meet people on his behalf and that Schembri rarely explained why.
"I didn't ask Keith Schembri questions."
12:36: The witness says he had never heard of Melvin Theuma before the summer of 2018.
Asked what Keith Schembri told him during that 8pm phone call, he replies that Schembri instructed him to call Johann Cremona so the two could go and calm someone down.
Camilleri: He told me to call Johann Cremona and tell him to pick me up, and we'd go and calm the person down.
Asked whether Schembri explained why the situation was urgent, Camilleri says he did not.
"He called me in the evening, so I assumed it was something urgent."
At the time, Camilleri says he assumed it had something to do with the Labour Party.
"I thought someone was upset with the party. We dealt with situations like that before, where we'd go and calm people down."
12:35: Camilleri is now asked about his relationship with Johann Cremona.
He tells the court he first got to know Cremona's father, "is-Sigarr", in 1994, when he was serving in the police force. The two stayed in touch over the years, and Camilleri later came to know Johann too.
He says he would occasionally drop by Cremona's Ħal Qormi office for an espresso whenever he happened to be in the area.
"I'd be passing through Qormi, remember Johann was there, think, 'I'll drop in.' We'd have an espresso, chat for 15 minutes or so, then I'd be on my way."
He says these visits happened once or twice a month at most, and were purely social. Other than calling ahead to ask if he could pop in for a coffee, they had little contact before the summer of 2018.
12:23: Asked about his relationship with Keith Schembri, Camilleri says the two got to know each other while he was working in Joseph Muscat's security team.
He insists they were never particularly close, saying, "We'd see each other from time to time. We weren't close."
He explains that Schembri would occasionally assign him work-related duties, including security arrangements whenever a minister travelled abroad.
Apart from that, their contact was limited. "We'd say hello and make small talk, but we only really spoke about work."
12:21: Kenneth Camilleri is the next witness to take the stand.
Camilleri tells jurors he served in the police force between 1994 and 2013 before joining the Office of the Prime Minister as part of Joseph Muscat's security detail.
He says that one evening, sometime in the summer, he received a phone call from then-chief of staff Keith Schembri.
It was around 7pm or 8pm and already dark outside.
Schembri said there was someone he wanted him to go and speak to in an effort to calm him down.
12:17: The defence picks up on the telecoms evidence, drilling into the timeline linked to one of the phone numbers under investigation.
The Vodafone witness says he cannot say who the number belonged to.
The defence then walks him through his report, pointing out that the device last connected to the network at 5:03am on November 26, 2019, through a base station in Mellieħa.
She also flags what appears to be a discrepancy.
Although police had asked for signalling data up to December 23, the report shows the number resurfacing on the network after that date.
The witness says there is no inconsistency, explaining that the number had simply been transferred to a replacement SIM and was being used in a different handset.
The court has not heard who the number belongs to.
12:15: The next witness is Mario Cordina, a telecommunications engineer who worked for Vodafone, now Epic, in 2019.
He explains how mobile phone networks work, telling jurors that every call or network connection leaves behind data that can later be analysed.
Cordina tells the court that police asked Vodafone in December 2019, for call records and location data linked to a number of mobile phones.
The request, made by lead investigator Keith Arnaud, covered activity from 1 November onwards.
The court hears that location data can only place a phone within a general area, not pinpoint its exact location.
A map shown in court indicates one device last connected to a base station in Mellieħa. The last signal from that phone was recorded at 5:03am on 26 November.
The same phone number reappeared on the network on 18 December, but from a different device. Cordina says this is consistent with a routine SIM replacement.
Cordina: If someone loses their phone, they can keep the same number with a new SIM card. That's perfectly normal.
The court has not been told who the number belongs to.
11:35: The court hears that Bank of Valletta had rejected Melvin Theuma's application for a €100,000 loan.
We're hearing evidence related to the money laundering probe into Theuma's affairs.
11:21: BOV representative Silvio Chetcuti is next to take the witness stand.
But before he's to testify, all the lawyers are handed copies of the screenshot Johann Cremona pulled from his pocket before the recess; the same document that derailed the courtroom moments earlier.
10:58 Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca argues that, "from a quick glance", the message appears to be an old photo, from when he was so young he "hadn't even grown a beard yet".
He says it was taken by a person known to the court and sent to Keith Schembri.
Judge Grima leaves the courtroom and orders a recess . But the arguments continue outside Hall 22, with lawyers from both sides shouting "disgrace" over each other.
We'll be back when the court resumes.
10:57 The jurors whisper among themselves as Judge Edwina Grima warns the prosecuting lawyer that he could be held in contempt of court.
She appoints court expert Martin Bajada to examine the document at the centre of the dispute.
Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca objects, arguing that court rules do not allow such documents to be produced in open court.
"My recordings were spread all over Malta," Cremona fires back. He insists the messages shown in the screenshot were sent to him by Keith Schembri.
"Everyone's recordings came out," he says.
Judge Grima cuts him off.
"Stop reading. Calm down."
Cremona's testimony is over.
The jurors are ushered out of the courtroom.
10:36 Johann Cremona goes on to allege that defence lawyer Charles Mercieca and Keith Schembri met at Schembri's office, near the Turkish embassy, on the eve of Schembri's testimony.
Cremona: Let him tell you about it. You think you're going to break me. You're mistaken.
He also claims another person in the photograph is a certain "Ruben Ta' Fonzu."
Cremona: You think you're going to bring me down? With all of Malta behind you, you still haven't got a chance. Madam Judge, I've had enough.
Judge Grima warns him to calm down or risk being held in contempt.
Cremona presses on.
Cremona: While his client is in prison, he's sending him messages. Let's not have anyone pretending to be a saint.
Mercieca asks to see the photograph if it includes him.
Judge Grima cuts in.
Judge Grima: Dr Mercieca, I don't want to see you laughing. This is no laughing matter.
10:31 A conversation is shown on the courtroom screens, but the judge prohibits the media from reporting its contents.
At one point, the witness addresses defence lawyer Charles Mercieca and tells him, "If you want to laugh, we're going to laugh now."
Johann Cremona: I don't send selfies while my client, Yorgen Fenech, is in prison, while sending messages to Keith Schembri. If you think you're very clever, you're not. You sent Keith Schembri your best wishes.
"I'm fed up now," the witness says.
Cremona pulls a folded sheet of paper from his pocket.
The prosecution leans over to see it before Judge Edwina Grima intervenes and implores the witness to calm down.
The court marshal takes the document and hands it to the judge.
Cremona claims that for the past 10 months, people have been paying sections of the media "to break" him.
Cremona: I went to tell someone, and they told me they had nothing to do with the lawyers. They've been trying to break me.
He then shows what appears to be a screenshot of messages to Yorgen Fenech.
Judge: Where did you get that?
Cremona: I took that screenshot from messages Keith Schembri sent me.
Judge: So those are messages Keith Schembri sent you?
Cremona: Yes. I took the full screenshot. Can you believe they're blaming Keith, yet he's sending (him) messages like that? I've had this in my pocket since I came to court this morning. I swore to myself I wouldn't take it out. I have more copies of it.
10:20 The defence asks the witness whether he and Keith Schembri were friends.
Johann Cremona sarcastically replies, "We'd go out for rabbit together. That's someone else."
The remark draws an immediate rebuke from the judge.
The defence presses on.
Cremona: Keith never told me anything.
Asked whether he contacted Schembri because he was "powerful," Cremona replies: "I don't think he had any power left."
When the defence suggests he contacted Schembri because he was trying to get himself out of trouble, Cremona replies that Schembri "was the first one to resign when the case broke."
10:13 Defence lawyer Gianella De Marco turns to messages exchanged between Johann Cremona and Keith Schembri, in which the pair discussed giving evidence.
She suggests the two were acting "like a team" when they said that they should not testify because they believed lead investigator Keith Arnaud was after them.
De Marco: You discussed your testimony together, didn't you?
Cremona: No. I only told him that when I was first questioned, I said I knew nothing. Then recordings started surfacing one after another. I never discussed my testimony with him. I only asked him whether he wanted to testify.
Judge Edwina Grima steps in.
Judge: Why were you speaking to Keith Schembri about the case?
Cremona: Because I had nobody else to talk to.
Judge: Did you think Keith Schembri was involved in the case?
Cremona: Keith Schembri was involved in everything.
09:57 Another secretly recorded conversation between Johann Cremona and Melvin Theuma is played to jurors.
Theuma is heard saying to Cremona that he will make former prime minister Joseph Muscat "shit himself" in parliament by getting then-opposition leader Simon Busuttil to press him, during a parliamentary sitting, to grant someone a presidential pardon and "solve the case".
As with many of the recordings played throughout the trial, the conversation is punctuated by a stream of colourful expletives.
09:54 De Marco returns to the meetings between Kenneth Camilleri and Melvin Theuma.
Johann Cremona says he once dropped Theuma off at his Żurrieq home and stayed out of the conversation. Later, Camilleri and Theuma met in Cremona's office, and they spoke briefly out of earshot near a coffee machine.
"I realised later this was bad news."
The following day, Theuma asked to speak to Kenneth again. Cremona called him, and the pair arranged to meet for coffee at Republic Square in Valletta. Cremona says he did not hear what was discussed at this time.
As Cremona was paying for their coffee, he says he suddenly heard Theuma shouting in anger. "Get them a bag of cash each so they can run," he was heard shouting.
According to Cremona, Theuma angrily shouted that someone should "sort out" bail for them (the Degiorgio brothers) and provide each of them with "a bag of cash" so they could flee.
Cremona says it was only after the first, second and third meetings that he began to realise something was going on, although he insists he did not understand who had become caught up in it at the time.
De Marco suggests that, at the time, Theuma himself was unsure whether Yorgen Fenech was genuinely involved or whether the Degiorgio brothers were simply using him for money.
9:49 Johann Cremona testified that there was a stage when middleman Melvin Theuma doubted whether the Degiorgio brothers had actually carried out the murder on his behalf, which happened when Theuma told him the Degiorgios were demanding 400,000 euros from former economy minister Chris Cardona to fund their trial.
9:46 The defence revisited the meeting between Kenneth Camilleri and Melvin Theuma in Valletta, with Cremona recalling that he overheard the pair discussing bail for the Degiorgio brothers along with mentions of money, though he maintained that at that stage he did not know Theuma was involved in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.
9:38 Defence lawyer Giannella de Marco asks Johann Cremona if he was sure he never heard Kenneth Camilleri and Melvin Theuma discuss bail during a meeting, and jurors were played a recording in which Cremona appeared to describe the bail discussion alongside references to boxes of money. Cremona clarified that he was recounting what Theuma had previously told him rather than something he witnessed firsthand, adding that it was difficult to deal with Theuma at the time because he was depressed.
09:28 Cremona says Melvin Theuma would go to him ranting when he couldn't reach Yorgen.
He rejects suggestions that he had tried to turn Theuma against Yorgen Fenech.
"You're trying to paint me as someone who was against Yorgen. I wasn't," he tells the defence.
The defence now reads from one of Theuma's secret recordings.
In it, Cremona is heard telling Theuma: "Just as Keith sent Kenneth (Camilleri) to calm you down and use me, today you're going to use me too."
The defence points out that Theuma never actually mentioned Keith Schembri in that exchange.
Cremona says, "From day one, Melvin always insisted Kenneth had been sent by Keith. I couldn't tell him otherwise. In reality, Kenneth came from Castille. I'm not going to lie or stick my neck out to protect anyone."
9:25 Johann Cremona told the court that he knew Kenneth Camilleri because he was friends with Camilleri's father. When defence lawyer Giannella de Marco asked if Keith Schembri had phoned him to say Kenneth was coming and to take care of him, Cremona answered no. Although Schembri had his phone number, Cremona stated he did not know where Schembri obtained it, adding that everyone was coming to him at the time, noting that Keith Schembri approached him when Yorgen Fenech was not answering his phone, and that Ray Aquilina, the former head of the police anti-money laundering unit, also came to him asking for Fenech's number.
9.19 The defence started the proceedings by questioning Cremona regarding a meeting he had with Kenneth Camilleri, who served as a bodyguard to then-prime minister Joseph Muscat.
9.15 Today's court session has begun, and defence lawyer Giannella de Marco has commenced her cross-examination.
8.57 Over the past three days, the jury has heard evidence from Johann Cremona, who acted as a go-between for several key figures implicated in the murder. As a business partner of Yorgen Fenech, Cremona was also a confidante of Melvin Theuma and remained in contact with Keith Schembri, the chief of staff to former prime minister Joseph Muscat, with his cross-examination expected to continue this morning.