Madam Justice Edwina Grima on Tuesday continued taking jurors through the evidence heard during the Yorgen Fenech trial, revisiting testimony concerning the alleged murder plot, Melvin Theuma's contacts with people around him and the subsequent police investigation.

The judge's summing-up is taking place after all the evidence has been heard, with jurors being reminded that it is their role to determine the facts on the basis of what was presented in court.

Fenech, 44, has pleaded not guilty to complicity in the assassination of Caruana Galizia and to membership of a criminal organisation allegedly formed to carry out the murder.

Caruana Galizia, a columnist with The Malta Independent, was killed by a car bomb on 16 October 2017.

During Tuesday morning's sitting, Grima moved through testimony from a large number of witnesses, at times dealing with individual accounts in considerable detail and at others moving quickly through evidence concerning the investigation and forensic work.

The morning began with the judge returning to the testimony of Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, and the events surrounding the alleged plot to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Muscat had testified about an earlier plan in 2015, which he linked to former minister Chris Cardona and which involved a €50,000 payment expected to come through lawyer David Gatt. According to Muscat, the money never arrived and the plan collapsed.

He also testified that Caruana Galizia's movements had been monitored for around six weeks, with Jamie Vella allegedly expected to carry out the killing using a machine gun.

Grima then moved to Muscat's account of the later plot in 2017.

Muscat testified that the original intention had been to shoot Caruana Galizia through a window at her home while she was working on her laptop late at night. That plan was subsequently abandoned because of concerns about the risks involved, including the possibility of the perpetrators being stopped at a roadblock.

The method was then changed to the use of an explosive device.

Muscat also recalled meetings involving Melvin Theuma and the Degiorgio brothers. He testified that Alfred Degiorgio would meet Theuma at the Busy Bee in Msida and that the hitmen had insisted on receiving money upfront because they had already been disappointed by the failed 2015 plan.

The plan was temporarily suspended when the 2017 general election was called and resumed after Labour returned to government, according to Muscat's evidence.

Muscat also testified about what happened after the arrests. He said the Degiorgio brothers had learned that he was cooperating with police and had attributed this information to Theuma. He recalled threats involving the children and said his lawyer had also been frightened.

Grima also recalled evidence from Alfred Degiorgio, who had told the court that he had no doubt Schembri, Gatt and Cardona were involved in Caruana Galizia's murder. Degiorgio declined to elaborate further, referring to proceedings pending before the European Court of Human Rights.

The judge then moved to evidence concerning George Degiorgio's account of the alleged earlier plot. He had testified that the same people allegedly involved in the 2015 plan were involved again in 2017.

The summing-up then moved to evidence surrounding Theuma's arrest and subsequent cooperation with police.

Superintendent Nicholas Vella's testimony was revisited, including his evidence concerning the operation in which Theuma, Edgar Brincat, Charmaine Theuma and Chayenne Zammit were arrested. Vella said that, when the time came for the suspects to be arraigned, he was informed that the authorities were considering a presidential pardon for Theuma.

Grima subsequently turned to the testimony of Edgar Brincat, known as il-Ġojja, who had known Theuma for many years.

Brincat testified that Theuma had told him he was involved in the murder of Caruana Galizia. According to Brincat, Theuma was extremely distressed during the conversation, crying and appearing highly agitated.

He also recalled Theuma speaking about the government job he had been given and saying that he had gone to Castille when the arrangement was made, where he had taken a photograph with Schembri.

Brincat told the court that Theuma wanted to go to police because he had recordings which could explain the case. He initially tried to dissuade him, saying that he feared Theuma would bring more trouble upon himself and that he did not trust the police.

The judge also revisited Brincat's contacts with former police commissioner Lawrence Cutajar.

Brincat testified that Cutajar had asked him to obtain information from Theuma to understand where matters stood. He said Cutajar had told him: "If you help me, I'll help you."

Cutajar subsequently took the witness stand and denied passing information about the investigation to Brincat. He also denied having any role in securing Theuma's presidential pardon or receiving money in connection with it.

Cutajar maintained that he had instead been trying to ensure that Theuma's recordings were handed over to the authorities.

Grima then turned to the testimony of Johann Cremona, who was described in court as being close to Fenech's uncle and as having been a business partner of Fenech in a gaming company.

Cremona testified that Kenneth Camilleri had contacted him in May 2018 asking to speak to Theuma. Cremona drove Camilleri to Theuma's home, where Camilleri spoke to him.

Cremona later brought the two men together again outside Parliament. It was during that meeting, according to Cremona, that he realised the conversation was connected to the Caruana Galizia assassination.

Cremona said Theuma subsequently began visiting him frequently and speaking to him about the case. He testified that Theuma had admitted to being the middleman in the assassination.

The judge also referred to Cremona's evidence that Theuma believed he might receive a presidential pardon and his claims concerning former police commissioner Cutajar and the recordings.

The testimony of Kenneth Camilleri was then revisited. Camilleri said Schembri had asked him to contact Theuma through Cremona, but that he never understood why he had been drawn into the matter.

He denied ever meeting Theuma with the intention of killing him and said the episode had left him dreading going to work. He testified that he had felt intimidated and was even afraid of Schembri.

Grima then moved to the searches carried out at Schembri's residence.

SOCO officer Michelle Camilleri testified that officers had been instructed to seize devices identified by Schembri himself. Schembri moved around the house while officers followed and collected the items he indicated, including a children's tablet.

Camilleri stressed that Schembri did not have a mobile phone in his hand and that other devices in the property were not seized because officers were following instructions to collect only those he identified.

Officer Mario Azzopardi gave similar evidence, saying officers moved around the property with Schembri while he pointed out the devices to be collected. Azzopardi said such a search was not normally conducted in that manner and that it would not usually be expected for a

The afternoon sitting resumed with Grima turning to the testimony of former chief of staff Keith Schembri, who had categorically denied any involvement in Caruana Galizia's murder.

Schembri testified that he had known Fenech since childhood and said that between 2015 and 2017 he had no business dealings with him. He recalled a photograph taken with Melvin Theuma before the 2017 election, maintaining that he had never met Theuma before that occasion and never met him again afterwards.

He denied sending Kenneth Camilleri to speak to Theuma or being approached about bail for the Degiorgio brothers. Schembri also said he had tried to calm Fenech and told him not to flee Malta, while maintaining that Theuma should never have received a presidential pardon.

Grima revisited Schembri's evidence about his missing mobile phone and the search of his Mellieħa residence. Schembri claimed officers had "turned everything upside down", despite SOCO officers testifying that they had been instructed to collect only devices which he pointed out.

Officer Gary Scerri similarly testified that what took place was not a search in the ordinary sense because officers did not independently look through the property.

The judge then moved through several other witnesses before revisiting testimony from Caruana Galizia's husband Peter and son Matthew.

Peter recalled arriving in Bidnija following the explosion and asking Inspector Kurt Zahra whether his wife had died. "Yes, she died," Zahra replied.

Matthew testified that he was among the first people to reach the scene and realised from the wreckage and the car's registration plate that it was his mother's vehicle and that she could not have survived.

He said his life changed completely from that day and that he put aside his career to dedicate himself to seeking justice. Grima also revisited his evidence concerning the investigative work he carried out with his mother on the Panama Papers, 17 Black and Electrogas.

The judge later turned to Logan Wood, captain of Fenech's yacht, who testified that they left Portomaso at around 5am on the morning of Fenech's arrest before being stopped by the Armed Forces around half an hour later.

Wood said Fenech had instructed him to switch off the yacht's AIS tracker and make sure "the coast was 100% clear". He also confirmed that one of his tasks had been to hide cash for Fenech.

Grima subsequently moved to the testimony of Fenech's family doctor, Adrian Vella, revisiting events in the days leading up to Fenech's arrest.

Vella testified that he invited Fenech to rest at his holiday home in Gozo on 15 November 2019, at a time when Fenech was struggling with drug use. He later received a message from someone identifying himself as "Yors", asking him to bring something from Schembri.

Vella recalled collecting documents from Schembri and handing them to Fenech, who reacted by saying: "It can't be, it can't be. If I go down, they go down with me."

When police later came for Vella, he called Schembri twice. Vella also admitted deleting WhatsApp chats while in police custody, saying his phone contained medical information.

The final part of Tuesday's sitting was dedicated to the extensive testimony of Melvin Theuma.

Theuma testified that he came to know Fenech while working as a taxi driver around the Hilton area. According to his account, Fenech later called him over near the Blue Elephant restaurant and asked whether he knew George Degiorgio, because he wanted Caruana Galizia killed.

Theuma said Fenech told him the motive concerned information the journalist was expected to publish about "Uncle Ray".

According to Theuma, around two weeks after Labour won the 2017 general election, Fenech handed him three envelopes containing €50,000 each and told him to proceed with the murder.

Theuma also testified that Fenech told him: "Make sure they don't just cut off her legs like they did to Bone", referring to a car bomb attack on Romeo Bone which he survived.

He further claimed that Fenech later warned him of a major police raid targeting the hitmen in December, saying the information had come from former deputy police commissioner Silvio Valletta.

Throughout his testimony, defence lawyers repeatedly challenged Theuma's credibility, highlighting inconsistencies in his account, his criminal connections and allegations that he had attempted to pressure or blackmail Fenech.

They also questioned the circumstances surrounding his presidential pardon, focusing on instances in which Theuma admitted having lied when he implicated Schembri in the murder in a handwritten letter. The defence argued that Theuma obtained his pardon in exchange for implicating Fenech while clearing Schembri.

The judge also revisited the heated confrontation between Theuma and George Degiorgio on the witness stand.

Degiorgio claimed Schembri had sent Theuma to commission the murder, which Theuma angrily denied, insisting that he had never mentioned either Schembri or Fenech to the killers.

"Tell the truth... they never gave us a pardon because we were going to expose the big fish. Because we have balls, unlike you," Degiorgio told him.

Grima reminded jurors that Theuma received a presidential pardon in connection with five cases: money laundering, Caruana Galizia's murder and three hold-ups linked to HSBC branches in Balzan and Qormi and the Casino di Venezia.

She opted not to revisit Theuma's recordings, telling jurors they had already heard enough of them and had practically all the material before them.

Proceedings will resume at 9am on Wednesday.