Yorgen Fenech's close relationship with a network of high-profile people in Malta was laid bare to the jury tasked with hearing his trial on Wednesday, as investigators shared details from the tycoon's online messaging accounts.
These chats included a group named 'No Valletta, No Party' - which included former Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta, former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, former MFSA chief executive Joseph Cuschieri and Kenneth Azzopardi - and another named 'Sassicaia' - which included Fenech, Schembri, and then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
Proceedings early in what was the 31st day of the trial centred on psychiatric evidence concerning Melvin Theuma's mental state following his 2020 suicide attempt.
Three psychiatrists - Dr Jean Pierre Grech, Dr Arthur Felice and Dr George Debono - testified jointly about their assessment of Theuma, explaining they had been appointed to determine whether he was mentally fit to testify following his suicide attempt in July 2020.
The doctors told jurors they examined Theuma on two occasions, in November 2020 and January 2021, while he was receiving psychological treatment and medication. According to the psychiatrists, Theuma said he had never suffered from mental health problems before Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination, despite knowing beforehand that she was going to be killed.
Following the murder, however, Theuma told them he realised the gravity of what had happened, saying: "My eyes were opened. I realised what I had done."
The psychiatrists said Theuma told them he drafted a will leaving everything to his partner because he believed he was going to die. He also recounted visiting Yorgen Fenech the day after the murder and telling him: "They're going to catch us. I'm going to lose everything, including my son."
According to the doctors, Theuma said Fenech gave him anti-anxiety medication, which he began taking together with whisky. He also said he repeatedly contemplated taking his own life, including by jumping from a roof or drinking a toxic liquid, but always stopped himself after thinking about his son.
Theuma further told the psychiatrists he personally paid Alfred and George Degiorgio €300 each per week because he feared they would expose him and was concerned Fenech would think he was keeping the money for himself.
The court also heard details of Theuma's suicide attempt in July 2020. The psychiatrists said he told them he first drank a bottle of acid before slitting his throat with a knife. When this failed, he stabbed himself six times in the abdomen before attempting to jump from a balcony, but slipped in his own blood.
They said Theuma told them he wrote a letter to Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud explaining that he had inflicted the injuries on himself and expressed hope that Matthew Caruana Galizia would one day forgive him.
The doctors also referred to a separate medical incident the following month, when Theuma suffered a heart attack caused by a blocked artery.
The psychiatrists testified that, when their report was finalised in 2021, Theuma was still suffering from anxiety, fear and remorse over his role in the murder.
He told them he felt responsible for the suffering caused to his own family and found it emotionally difficult to testify in the presence of Yorgen Fenech, his lawyers and Daphne Caruana Galizia's relatives. He also said he felt mocked by Fenech and his legal team while giving evidence.
Despite diagnosing him with mixed anxiety and depressive disorder, the psychiatrists concluded that Theuma remained mentally fit to testify, although they recommended he should not be subjected to excessively long court sittings.
Under cross-examination, defence lawyer Giannella De Marco questioned the psychiatrists about whether Theuma had received psychiatric treatment before his suicide attempt and about his decision to draw up a will shortly after the arrests of the Degiorgio brothers and Vince Muscat.
The psychiatrists replied that they had not been tasked with verifying the truthfulness of Theuma's account or independently investigating the events he described. Their role, they said, was solely to determine whether he was mentally capable of understanding his actions and giving reliable evidence.
Wednesday's sitting saw some back and forth between the defence and the prosecution, with defence lawyer Charles Mercieca and prosecutor Godwin Cini both being fined €50 for arguing between themselves in contempt of court.
Inspector Brian Paul Camilleri of the Financial Crimes Investigation Department testified next.
Camilleri told the court he formed part of a police task force established to examine and analyse electronic data recovered from devices seized during searches. The team reviewed emails, photographs and electronic messages, while Camilleri oversaw the progress of the work without personally forming part of the murder investigation itself.
Among the documents exhibited was a 2015 banking document relating to 17 Black's bank accounts and a number of transactions.
Jurors were also shown a WhatsApp group recovered from Yorgen Fenech's mobile phone titled "No Valletta, No Party", whose members included former Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta, former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, former MFSA chief executive Joseph Cuschieri and Kenneth Azzopardi.
The court was shown a photograph of Fenech with Cuschieri, as well as a video depicting Cuschieri and Azzopardi disembarking from Fenech's boat at Portomaso.
The prosecution also referred the court to a WhatsApp exchange between Fenech and Labour MP Rosianne Cutajar, in which Cutajar wrote: "Find out for me, my love" ("Tkixxiffli naqra qalbi").
Camilleri confirmed that the conversation formed part of the material he had examined during his analysis of Fenech's electronic devices.
The court was also referred to WhatsApp exchanges between Fenech and then Tax Commissioner Marvin Gaerty concerning tax matters.
Camilleri confirmed he was aware of the chats and told jurors one of the messages referred to a transaction on which Fenech said he had paid tax.
Another message allegedly referred to Daphne Caruana Galizia as "the witch", while the inspector also confirmed that Wings Investment was incorporated in 2016 and that 17 Black changed its name to Wings Development in 2017.
After the lunch break, Camilleri continued testifying.
Jurors were shown a WhatsApp group named 'Sassicaia,' which included then prime minister Joseph Muscat, former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and Yorgen Fenech.
Sassicaia is an expensive Italian red wine from Tuscany.
Describing the exchanges, Camilleri said that the "chat participants appeared to be very close."
He told the court that the group was created in 2019, although he was unable to recall the exact date. The inspector confirmed that Joseph Muscat left the group on 29 October 2019.
He explained that the chat was brought to the attention of his superior officers because of the identities of those involved.
Camilleri continued by telling the court that Muscat and Fenech left the group on the same day, while Keith Schembri exited the group a few days later.
Another WhatsApp conversation followed, this time between Fenech and Catherine Halpin, an engineer who at the time worked with Electrogas.
Among the messages exhibited is one in which Fenech told Halpin: "I was online on that bloody dark web."
The conversations also include discussions relating to Electrogas Halpin asking Fenech: "Did you find out who leaked all those emails from EGM?"
The jury was then presented a WhatsApp chat between Fenech and Salman F. Rahman, a Bangladeshi businessman and politician who at the time served as an adviser to the country's government.
The pair discussed a project in Bangladesh that was similar to one carried out in Malta, although what it exactly is was not specified.
Rahman is currently in custody in Bangladesh, where he is facing charges including murder and attempted murder.
There were also conversation between Fenech and Pierre Portelli, the former head of MediaLink, the Nationalist Party's media arm, and a former president of the party's administrative council.
Camilleri referred to a message sent on 6 January 2019 in which Portelli told Fenech: "Speak properly to Marthese" - ostensibly a reference to then MP Marthese Portelli.
The jury was also shown another exchange in which Portelli sends Fenech an article to help secure its publication in Orizzont.
The jury was then shown a WhatsApp conversation between Yorgen Fenech and MaltaToday managing director Saviour Balzan from 9 June 2019.
Camilleri told the court he remembers the general context of the exchange, which included a lengthy message from Balzan about allegations made by then PN MP David Thake concerning Fenech.
The chat also included discussion about a MaltaToday article referring to 17Black, with Fenech complaining that the headline could have avoided mentioning the company.
Balzan replied the next day, telling Fenech "Yesterday I bit the journalist's head off and he changed it. You have to keep an eye on them" [Il-bieraħ kiltlu wiċċu lill-ġurnalist u biddilha. Trid toqod magħhom].
During questioning by prosecutor Godwin Cini, Camilleri was asked whether he came across any Bitcoin transactions during his examination of the evidence.
The inspector replied that he found multiple references to Bitcoin transactions, particularly in relation to Kenneth Farrugia, however, he did not and was not asked to elaborate further on the nature of those transactions.
Under cross-examination, Camilleri told the court he was assigned as supervisor of the task force and confirms that he was involved in an investigation concerning Melvin Theuma. However, he specifies that it was separate from the homicide case against Yorgen Fenech.
Questioned by defence lawyer Giannella De Marco, Camilleri said he had no involvement in the valuation or quantification of Theuma's assets.
Camilleri also confirmed that the task force received and analysed extracted data from the electronic devices of Melvin Theuma, Yorgen Fenech, Keith Schembri, and Schembri's children.
He explained that he was informed by his superiors that the extractions were carried out by Europol and that his involvement was limited to analysing the extracted data, and stressed that he never had the physical devices in his possession, only the data extracted from them.
De Marco questioned whether he checked if former deputy police commissioner Silvio Valletta was still involved in the investigation while communicating with Yorgen Fenech, the witness said this was not part of his duties.
He explained that it was for his superiors to determine Valletta's role, while his own responsibility was simply to pass the WhatsApp conversation on to them.
Asked whether the WhatsApp conversation with now-Minister Rosianne Cutajar formed part of the information he passed on, the witness said he cannot recall, but does not believe he forwarded it.
He added that the information was already available to Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud.
The witness gives the same reply when questioned about the 'Sassicaia' chat, the 'No Valletta, No Party' WhatsApp group, and the other conversations referred to during the proceedings.