Former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri on Thursday firmly denied ever asking anyone to kill either Daphne Caruana Galizia or murder middleman Melvin Theuma as defence lawyer Giannella de Marco pressed him on a series of allegations made by prosecution witnesses during the Yorgen Fenech trial.
De Marco's questioning centred on the evidence given by several prosecution witnesses, including Melvin Theuma, Johann Cremona, Kenneth Camilleri, Dr Adrian Vella and police officers, with Schembri rejecting much of their testimony and insisting that numerous witnesses had lied about him.
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.
The hearing opened with questions about the circumstances surrounding Schembri's arrest in November 2019. He maintained that his mobile phone, which has never been recovered, had most likely been stolen after police arrived at his Mellieħa home. He said the last activity on the device was a call from Dr Adrian Vella informing him that police were knocking on his door and reiterated that he had resigned as chief of staff the night before his arrest after being informed that Yorgen Fenech had implicated him.
Schembri also denied allegations that he had selectively pointed out electronic devices for police to seize during the search of his home, insisting that the telephones visible in police photographs belonged to his mother and the family's nanny. He challenged investigators' version of events, accusing them of lying.
Part of the cross-examination focused on Dr Adrian Vella's evidence that Schembri had handed him a document to pass on to Yorgen Fenech.
Schembri denied ever giving Vella such a document, maintaining instead that the doctor had regularly visited his home because of his medical condition and had gone upstairs himself to collect medical papers. He insisted he never knew what document Vella allegedly took and rejected suggestions that he had instructed the doctor to retrieve it.
When confronted with Vella's testimony that Schembri had told him to take whichever document he needed, Schembri again insisted he had merely been referring to blood test results. He denied ever touching the document in question, despite acknowledging that police had shown it to him during his interrogation.
De Marco then shifted her attention to Schembri's contacts with Melvin Theuma, the self-confessed middleman in the murder plot.
Schembri acknowledged meeting Theuma once at Castille after the latter requested government employment but rejected Theuma's account of the meeting.
The former chief of staff also flatly rejected allegations that he had instructed Office of the Prime Minister security officer Kenneth Camilleri to calm Theuma down or to arrange meetings through Johann Cremona. He described testimony by Camilleri and Cremona as false, suggesting that Cremona had merely been bluffing when discussing Schembri in secretly recorded conversations.
The cross-examination became more direct when De Marco repeatedly asked Schembri whether he had ever instructed anyone to murder either Melvin Theuma or Daphne Caruana Galizia.
Schembri firmly denied both allegations.
Asked whether he had sent Kenneth Camilleri to kill Theuma, Schembri replied that he had never done so. He also rejected allegations that he and Theuma had ever agreed to kill Caruana Galizia, insisting that their only interaction concerned Theuma's request for government employment and an espresso at Castille. Later, when asked whether he had ever personally told Theuma to kill the journalist, Schembri responded: "What? Of course not."
The hearing also touched on intelligence surrounding secretly recorded conversations involving Theuma.
While acknowledging that then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat occasionally told him that his name had come up in Theuma's recordings, he said he never attached importance to this because he believed he had done nothing wrong and considered Theuma to have "a vivid imagination". He denied ever discussing the recordings with the police commissioner before his arrest.
One of the more unusual moments of the morning came when questioning turned to lawyer David Gatt.
Schembri requested that the courtroom be cleared before discussing Gatt, claiming investigators Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra had encouraged him to meet Gatt once and then "burn him". He alleged that on one occasion before the murder he briefly left his office only to return and find Gatt waiting for him naked, prompting visible surprise in the courtroom.
De Marco pointed out that mobile phone evidence placed both men in the same area on the morning of 16 August 2017, before Caruana Galizia's assassination. Schembri replied that Gatt had been persistently following him because he wanted assistance in becoming Malta's ambassador to Israel and denied being able to explain subsequent contacts between Gatt and George Degiorgio.
The defence lawyer concluded the morning session by examining WhatsApp exchanges between Schembri and former prime minister Joseph Muscat.
Messages shown to the jury referred to police recordings, with Schembri telling Muscat that a story was "made up" and that then Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar had informed him there was "nothing there". De Marco questioned why Cutajar would have been discussing the matter with Schembri after his resignation from office, while Schembri maintained there was nothing unusual about such conversations.
Further exchanges between Schembri and Muscat were also exhibited, but Schembri repeatedly said he could not remember the discussions when questioned about them.
In the afternoon, questioning resumed with de Marco focusing on Schembri's evidence from the previous day, when he testified that Yorgen Fenech had given him the impression that he was involved in Caruana Galizia's murder.
Pressed on where that conversation had taken place, Schembri said he could not remember the exact location, explaining that years had passed and he had tried to put the matter behind him.
He later recalled another occasion after a meal in Valletta when Fenech allegedly told him: "They gave me cocaine" and "I made a mistake."
De Marco also highlighted inconsistencies between Schembri's testimony and his earlier police statements regarding Johann Cremona, pointing out that while he had recently said Cremona arranged a meeting through his secretary, he had previously told investigators he did not know how the meeting had come about.
Schembri replied that he only truly came to know Cremona after the latter was arraigned and said he would not even have recognised him had he not seen him in court earlier this week.
The defence then turned to the meeting between Schembri and Melvin Theuma after Theuma had requested to see him.
Schembri said he had heard that Theuma wanted to blackmail both him and the government by claiming to possess a photograph with him in an effort to secure a presidential pardon.
He denied discussing anything of significance during the meeting and rejected Theuma's claim that he had emerged from it feeling more powerful.
De Marco also questioned Schembri about his relationship with Caruana Galizia and the numerous articles she wrote about him, including references to his cancer diagnosis.
Schembri said the reporting had not affected him personally but had deeply hurt his family because details of his illness became public before his children and parents knew about it. He recalled filing one or two libel suits against the journalist, saying he withdrew one after her death.
Asked whether, regardless of his views on Caruana Galizia's reporting, she deserved to be killed, Schembri replied unequivocally: "Never."
He also referred to comments he said had been made by foreign investors questioning why the government did not "get rid of" the journalist, insisting he had rejected such suggestions outright.
Much of the afternoon centred on allegations made by prosecution witnesses linking Schembri to the murder plot.
Confronted with George Degiorgio's testimony that he commissioned the assassination, Schembri dismissed the claim outright.
He similarly rejected lawyer David Gatt's evidence concerning an alleged "number one" hand gesture and denied Johann Cremona's claim that Kenneth Camilleri had been sent on his behalf to calm Melvin Theuma.
When De Marco suggested several witnesses had implicated him, Schembri insisted not all had lied but said he believed Johann Cremona had been unable to tell the full truth while testifying.
Schembri also denied Kenneth Camilleri's claim that he feared him and said he would sue Camilleri for libel over his testimony.
He likewise rejected Dr Adrian Vella's evidence that he had personally handed him a disputed document, insisting Vella had been free to collect whatever papers he wanted from his office.
Turning to Melvin Theuma's testimony, Schembri branded him "the biggest liar in Malta" and denied repeatedly urging him to have Caruana Galizia killed.
He claimed Theuma had previously told Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud that Schembri had nothing to do with the murder and questioned suggestions that police or others had reassured Theuma after his arrest.
The defence also explored the impact Caruana Galizia's reporting had on Schembri personally.
Referring to Yorgen Fenech's testimony that Schembri had been particularly distressed by articles mentioning his daughter, De Marco asked whether he had been hurt by the journalist's reporting.
Schembri replied that every night before going to sleep he asked his mother to "pray for Daphne", while adding that the journalist had hurt many people through her writing.
Asked directly whether he had engaged Theuma to have Caruana Galizia killed, Schembri replied: "I had no connection whatsoever with any of the people you've mentioned."
When De Marco concluded by telling him, "You use people and hide your hands. Your fingerprints are everywhere," Schembri responded: "My fingerprints are everywhere because of politics."
Following the end of the defence's cross-examination, prosecutors asked Schembri why, despite everything that had happened, he continued to say he was still helping Yorgen Fenech.
"We were very close friends," Schembri replied. "He cost me my job. I went through martyrdom, even with my wife. But I don't forget the friendship we had." Jurors indicated they had no questions for the witness.
Proceedings ended unexpectedly after Schembri told the court that people had approached him while he was under constant police supervision.
He alleged that a court employee had spoken to him during a break and requested a transfer. Madam Justice Edwina Grima immediately questioned how anyone had been allowed to speak to the witness, summoned the Chief Marshal to testify and ordered the Chief Executive of the Courts to investigate the incident and report back to the court before adjourning proceedings for Friday.