Keith Schembri told jurors on Wednesday that Yorgen Fenech indirectly revealed his involvement in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia before his arrest, leaving the former OPM chief of staff "frozen" and convinced that his greatest mistake was not immediately informing then prime minister Joseph Muscat and resigning.

As he continued giving evidence in Fenech's trial by jury, Schembri also insisted that he repeatedly urged the businessman not to flee Malta on the eve of his arrest, denied leaking details of the murder investigation to him, and maintained that he played no role in Melvin Theuma's presidential pardon.

Fenech 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.

Questioned Wednesday by prosecutor Godwin Cini about recordings between Fenech and middleman Melvin Theuma, Schembri confirmed that Fenech had never explicitly admitted involvement in the assassination but had gradually dropped enough hints for him to understand what he was implying.

Schembri recalled that as Fenech's name increasingly surfaced in connection with the investigation, the businessman spoke to him while they were alone, probably over drinks.

"He hinted at it without saying it," Schembri said, adding that he "froze" when he understood what Fenech was trying to tell him.

He admitted that, looking back, he should have immediately informed then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and tendered his resignation, describing that omission as his "one mistake."

Pressed further about his reaction, Schembri said he felt "very sad" because what he had feared for Fenech had happened.

He said he believed Fenech had been under the influence of drugs at the time and added that he still does not think the businessman acted alone.

Instead of confronting him, Schembri testified, he hugged his friend because he did not know what else to do.

Asked whether he had previously offered Muscat his resignation, Schembri said he had done so three times, telling the then prime minister to "leave me out of it." The resignation was not accepted.

The prosecution also focused extensively on recorded conversations in which Fenech and Theuma appeared to discuss Schembri and the investigation.

Schembri repeatedly denied supplying Fenech with inside information.

Questioned about references in the recordings to investigator Keith Arnaud, Minister Owen Bonnici and others, Schembri insisted that whatever information Fenech had obtained, it had not come from him.

He likewise denied allegations that he had sent Kenneth Camilleri to relay messages or that he had instructed Fenech to communicate with people connected to the investigation.

"I never sent Kenneth," Schembri repeated, while insisting that several remarks attributed to him in the recordings were simply untrue.

Earlier, Schembri was questioned about a meeting with Fenech's lawyers shortly before he was due to testify. On Tuesday, Schembri had told jurors that Johann Cremona had been offered up to €400,000 by Yorgen Fenech's lawyers to testify in the businessman's favour, only for the witness to repeatedly refuse to answer the court's questions before ultimately insisting he had "made it up".

Testifying yesterday, Schembri confirmed that lawyers Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran had asked him to "help" Fenech.

"They asked me to help him as much as possible," Schembri said.

Asked what that meant, he replied that he had already helped his friend by ensuring he did not harm him in previous testimony.

"The benefit of the doubt goes to my friend," Schembri said, while refusing to elaborate on what additional assistance the lawyers expected from him.

"I could have said much more," he added.

Schembri also described the events preceding Fenech's arrest.

He testified that Joseph Muscat informed him that the Malta Security Service had received information that Fenech was attempting to flee Malta aboard his yacht and instructed him to telephone the businessman.

According to Schembri, the pair spoke for around 25 minutes, during which he urged Fenech not to leave because doing so would only attract greater suspicion.

Although Fenech maintained that his yacht was due for servicing in Sicily, Schembri said he repeatedly pleaded with him to remain in Malta.

"I told him, 'Please, don't leave,'" Schembri recalled.

When Fenech later messaged him saying, "Maybe it's best if I go," Schembri testified that he encouraged him to "keep fighting" instead of escaping.

"I told him to stay in Malta and keep fighting," he said.

The prosecution also questioned Schembri about Melvin Theuma's request for a presidential pardon.

Schembri insisted he had no involvement whatsoever in the process.

He said the only time he saw the pardon document was when it was lying on the desk of Joseph Muscat's personal assistant, Ray Caruana, and that he simply walked past it.

"I was not involved at all," he testified, adding that he knew nothing about pardons because he is not a lawyer.

Asked why Fenech had repeatedly questioned him about Theuma's pardon, Schembri replied that anyone fearing exposure for involvement in a murder would naturally be concerned about whether a pardon would be granted.

"If Theuma got a pardon, it would all land on Yorgen Fenech," Schembri said.

As the afternoon session kicked off, Cini noted that in another text, Schembri and Fenech discussed the draft terms of Theuma's pardon and went over them together.

Cini then presented a document found in Fenech's possession upon arrest, containing a statement by Melvin Theuma claiming he was the middleman in the Daphne Caruana Galizia case, providing evidence of who engaged and paid for the bomb, and stating he did this because he discovered Fenech and Schembri were working to get rid of him.

When Cini asked why Theuma wrote that, Schembri said Theuma would be the best person to ask, and recalled Theuma admitting he used the photo to blackmail him.

When asked if he ever tried to get rid of Melvin Theuma, Schembri answered no, and when asked why Fenech kept the document, Schembri again told the court to ask Fenech.

Schembri was shown the letter implicating former minister Chris Cardona in the murder - which Adrian Vella previously claimed he was given by Schembri to hand to Yorgen Fenech while Fenech was hospitalised under police bail.

Schembri testified that he only discovered this document after his arrest when police showed it to him, adding that none of his fingerprints were found on it. He was then shown a second document, which Fenech had told investigators Schembri gave him prior to his arrest, but Schembri firmly denied this, stating it was the first time he was seeing it. 

Schembri recounted his arrest, stating he did not know it was coming.

Schembri noted that around 6:10am, workers arrived at his house for ongoing home renovations, which was filmed by Newsbook, and at 6:30am, investigators Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra arrived, searched the house, seized everything they saw, and took him to police headquarters.

Questioned about his infamous missing phone, Schembri stated he has been trying to figure out what happened to it for nine years and acknowledged that people laugh or smile when he speaks about it, but he insisted that he does not know where it went.

When prosecutor Cini pointed out that a report showed the phone was last used at 5:03am in Mellieha where Schembri lives, Schembri replied that he was stating facts and noted that workers arrived at 5:30am to move things outside.

He claimed he did not realize his phone was missing until police started putting things in sealed bags at the depot and noticed it wasn't there. When Cini questioned how he could fail to realise he didn't have his phone from the moment of his arrest until arriving at the depot, Schembri maintained he did not know, adding that workers might have found it, and noted he was in bed at 5:03am.

The court heard that Neville Gafa was present, and the prosecution probed about Schembri's relationship with him, as he was present at Schembri's house during the search.

"He's a family friend. He also worked with me at Castille," Schembri replied. They were quite close, and used to walk from Mellieħa to Selmun every day - but have since not been as close. "He started attacking people within the Labour Party. That bothered me," Schembri said.

Turning to photographs taken during the searches of Schembri's home, showing electronic devices that were not seized, Schembri says that the devices in question most likely belonged to members of his family.

My parents, Gafà, and the nanny were there. Those devices belonged to them. One hundred per cent. Not 99 per cent," he said.

He challenged the prosecution to call police officers who testified about only seizing what Schembri told them to seize into the courtroom to confront them over this.

Prosecutor Godwin Cini reminded the court that George Degiorgio testified Schembri had sent Melvin Theuma to the potato shed to arrange for Daphne Caruana Galizia to be killed.

"An outrageous lie!" Schembri replied. "I have never met George Degiorgio. I don't even know who he is. No way (Ma' tarax)."

Cini read out a series of claims allegedly made by Fenech in his police statement, beginning with an assertion that the plan to murder Daphne Caruana Galizia originated from Schembri.

"No, no, no. Definitely not," Schembri replied.

The prosecutor went on to suggest that Fenech had told police Schembri instructed him to "find a way" to have Caruana Galizia killed.

Schembri paused before answering "definitely not."

Cini then asked whether Schembri had ever told Fenech: "Mexxi, mexxi, mexxi" ("Go ahead, go ahead, go ahead").

"No," came the reply.

Asked whether Muscat had expressed concern during that meeting about whether Theuma could be trusted, Schembri replied: "I never heard that. Never."

When Cini suggests Fenech had told police he no longer trusted Theuma because he was recording him, Schembri said: "I definitely wasn't at that meeting."

Cini said that when Yorgen Fenech implied that he was involved in the murder, Schembri said he "froze". "Was that because you were shocked, or because your fears had come true?"

"Both. First, I had an obligation to keep the government going. Second, he was my friend. Third, as I have said many times, I never believed - and I am not saying that I now believe - that this person acted alone. I keep saying that, but I have no evidence," Schembri replied.

Asked why Fenech was linking him to the homicide, Schembri replied: "He didn't implicate me from the start. I'll leave it at that."

Asked what he meant by that, Schembri replied: "Initially, he didn't implicate me."

A point of law was raised on this because it appeared to allude to a matter the jury has been expressly instructed not to hear about - Yorgen Fenech's request for a presidential pardon.

The prosecution rephrased the question and asked Schembri what his reaction was when Fenech later implicated him.

"I was shocked. I was with the prime minister and I said, 'What's he making up about me?'I went to Joseph's house and told him I was going to resign. He accepted my resignation, and I went home," Schembri replied.

That brought the prosecution's questioning to an end. Schembri will be cross-examined on Thursday as the trial continues.

Photo: Miguela Xuereb/Newsbook Malta