A legal dispute over whether jurors could have been exposed to news headlines on their court-issued tablets opened Wednesday morning's sitting of the Yorgen Fenech murder trial, before proceedings moved into a tense examination of Inspector Kurt Zahra over evidence concerning the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The sitting began with arguments about social media posts and comments relating to the trial.

Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca mentioned a Facebook post which had stated that Yorgen Fenech was guilty, saying that despite a court decree issued on Tuesday evening ordering its removal, the post remained online 18 hours later.

The defence also raised concerns about other commentary surrounding the proceedings and the possible impact this could have on the jury.

Prosecutor Anthony Vella said the prosecution was concerned because posts targeting the accused were being flagged, while there were also numerous posts in Fenech's favour.

Judge Edwina Grima stressed that the court was not attempting to gag reporting of the trial or legitimate comment on evidence emerging in court.

But, she said, there was a distinction between fair comment and declarations on matters which were exclusively for the jury to decide.

"We are putting the administration of justice at risk," the judge warned, saying the trial had already been going on for two months.

The exchange became heated when parte civile lawyer Jason Azzopardi was criticised by the defence over a Facebook post published after Tuesday's decree. Azzopardi responded that he had not been notified of the decree and said he had merely shared a post by his client, the victim's son.

Azzopardi accused the defence of mounting a campaign of its own, saying there was an ongoing "campaign of lies" aimed at prosecution witnesses.

The lawyers' arguments then moved to a potentially more direct concern about the jury.

Mercieca told the court that the tablets provided to jurors, which are intended to allow them to follow documentary evidence while keeping them cut off from the outside world, appeared to be displaying news headlines.

The defence said that when one of the tablets was opened, headlines from local and international news outlets could be seen.

Judge Grima checked her own tablet and said that everything was blocked. Mercieca nevertheless insisted that he had seen the headlines and said the concern was not merely about the stories themselves, but about who was writing them and "the agenda they may be pushing".

The judge ordered that all the jurors' tablets be collected and examined. Expert Martin Bajada was asked to report to the court within a short timeframe on whether the devices could have provided internet access.

Mercieca also suggested that the expert could examine how far back such access might have extended and whether headlines had been available throughout the trial.

The jury returned to court without the tablets.

Inspector Kurt Zahra then continued his evidence for the prosecution, with prosecutor Anthony Vella taking him through the material police had been able to corroborate and evidence they had been unable to independently confirm.

Zahra said Melvin Theuma had given investigators details about the murder plan, including its timing, before police played him recordings of his own conversations.

When the recordings were subsequently played to him, Zahra said, Theuma's account corresponded with what investigators had already uncovered.

He also referred to evidence from Vince Muscat, saying Muscat confirmed elements of Theuma's account, including where the hitmen had kept watch before the assassination.

Zahra also testified about the statements of the three men who had admitted their role in the murder. Investigators had asked George and Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat about their motive and how much they had been paid, but the three declined to answer, he said.

Zahra said the three men subsequently made six requests for presidential pardons between 2021 and 2025. The latest request sought a pardon covering all offences committed before 2018.

He also referred to attempts by investigators to obtain further information from the Degiorgio brothers, including a March 2024 meeting in which they were asked whether they were prepared to identify anyone else.

Zahra said George Degiorgio had provided information about an alleged 2015 plot to kill Caruana Galizia, while maintaining that this was separate from the 2017 assassination.

Because the investigation into the 2015 allegations remains active, Zahra said he could provide only limited details. He confirmed that former minister Chris Cardona had been interrogated in connection with that investigation.

The inspector also addressed the investigation involving Keith Schembri. He said police had seized only one sheet of paper during a search of Schembri's office, a document considered relevant because it referred to an article by Caruana Galizia.

Zahra said Schembri's name entered the murder investigation on November 25, 2019, in connection with a letter allegedly passed to Fenech through doctor Adrian Vella.

Schembri, he said, was never considered a suspect in the murder itself. His arrest related to the alleged passing of the letter and a separate investigation into possible leaks of confidential information.

The prosecution also presented call data extracted from Fenech's mobile phone. Zahra said the records showed Fenech had visited Castille six times in 2019, in contrast to his earlier statement to police that he used to visit three times a week.

The court then heard about messages exchanged by Fenech with his uncle Ray on the night before his arrest.

Ray had sent Fenech an article about former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's comments on the murder. Fenech replied that there might be developments. Ray suggested that he go somewhere safe and book a flight to Paris, while Fenech said there were no available flights and that he first wanted to speak to his lawyer.

Fenech later told his uncle that escaping by boat would be safer and referred to assurances from a person identified as "K" that "nothing" would happen.

The testimony then produced one of the morning's sharpest courtroom exchanges.

Before cross-examination began, Mercieca raised an issue concerning Zahra's account of Vince Muscat's interrogation.

Zahra had testified that Muscat was asked whether the murder would have gone ahead if Melvin Theuma and the €150,000 had not come into the picture, and that Muscat answered no.

Mercieca said this was the opposite of what Muscat had actually said. According to the defence lawyer, Muscat had replied that he had "no doubt" the murder would have gone ahead.

Mercieca accused Zahra of giving false evidence under oath.

The prosecution objected, saying the statement could only be used as evidence against the person who had made it.

Judge Grima ultimately decided to go back to the source herself.

She said she would listen to the recording of Muscat's statement to establish exactly what had been said.

When the session resumed after the lunch break, the judge ruled that Zahra's explanation was accurate, noting that Muscat did indeed state that the murder would not have happened without Melvin Theuma.

Judge Grima told Mercieca: "Next time, Dr Mercieca, check all the documents. You caused a hassle!" 

The defence began its cross-examination of Zahra immediately after.

Zahra confirmed under questioning by defence lawyer Gianella De Marco that upon his arrest, Melvin Theuma requested to speak directly with the police commissioner and showed officers a photograph of himself alongside Keith Schembri. Zahra noted, however, that at that specific stage of the investigation, there were no indications linking Schembri to the murder.

De Marco then questioned Zahra about a Europol report which reportedly identified Keith Schembri and Chris Cardona as possible instigators of the homicide. Zahra replied that he had never personally seen that report, explaining that it had been presented directly to the inquiring magistrate rather than the investigating police team.

When de Marco asked if the separate money laundering investigation was used as a front for the homicide probe, Zahra confirmed the strategy. He explained that police could not show their hand early, so they arrested Melvin Theuma on money laundering charges to secure the valuable audio recordings; he noted that if the recordings had turned out to be worthless, the move would have at least avoided alerting suspects to the broader murder investigation.

De Marco asked Inspector Kurt Zahra whether Melvin Theuma had explained the context of his photograph with Keith Schembri and why he specifically wanted a Nationalist lawyer.

Zahra responded that Theuma was genuinely convinced that Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri wanted to get rid of him.

De Marco then referred to the letter written by Theuma in which he mentioned recordings, asking Zahra if the police ever managed to find those recordings. Zahra replied that he could not say because he was not personally involved in conducting those searches.

He noted, however, that when police repeatedly asked Theuma whether Keith Schembri was involved in the murder, Theuma consistently maintained that Yorgen Fenech was the primary mastermind.

Zahra added that investigators also questioned Kenneth Camilleri, who told police that he had been sent by Schembri to calm Theuma down. When de Marco asked why Schembri would have sent Camilleri for that purpose, Zahra explained that they had questioned Schembri about it; he recalled that Schembri had denied it.

De Marco noted that Theuma was deeply paranoid about people trying to kill him, pointing out that he used the plural form. She then asked Zahra how he would respond if she suggested that Keith Schembri had actually tried to kill Theuma. Zahra replied that Theuma had expressed a belief that both Yorgen Fenech and Keith Schembri wanted to put him in prison or get rid of him.

Questioning then focused on searches conducted at the residence and office of Keith Schembri.

Zahra confirmed under cross examination that he and Keith Arnaud had carried out the search at Schembri's house and that nothing had been seized.

De Marco says that they spent three hours at Schembri's house, and asked what they were searching for in that time period.

"Anything that could have been related to the homicide... his mobile was of interest to us, his laptop, some papers with some mobile numbers, that sort of thing," Zahra said. 

Schembri's Castille office was searched a week after his residence.

Among the documents in Schembri's office was a file containing all the articles written by Caruana Galizia about him, the defence noted.  Asked whether investigators found this odd, Zahra said that they did and they asked Schembri about it.

He however said that the file included every article about him - irrespective of who wrote them.

"That's not true," De Marco says, adding that there were only her articles in the box file. "Was this not strange to you? That a person like him remained so obsessed with her writings about him that he kept them in a drawer? Was this seized by police?," she asked.

The file was not seized by investigators, Zahra said.

Asked why the police did not seize the file, Zahra said that it was not relevant to the homicide and that an officer from the economic crimes unit continued the search.  Did he seize the file, De Marco asked - Zahra replied that he does not know.

De Marco also asked about a piece of paper found in Schembri's office with the words "DCG", "Pierre Darmanin" and "CC" written on it.

Zahra said that the paper contained scribbles taken down during a meeting.  There is a date written on it which corresponds to the date of the publication of one of Caruana Galizia's articles on oil contraband and people involved in organised crime.

Asked about Theuma's recordings of Johann Cremona, Zahra said that Theuma had mentioned them to the police but he could not recall whether he had told the police that he had deleted them.

De Marco also asked Zahra whether he knew of the close relationship between the police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar and Edgar Brincat, known as il-Ġojja.

Zahra says that he had heard but not when he was involved in the investigation.

Asked by the defence whether he knew that the commissioner leaked information to Brincat, Zahra said that all he knows is that the two met about a driving ticket.

The case will continue on Thursday morning.