Businessman on trial for murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia

Nine years after investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bombing, a high-profile trial has begun in Malta against wealthy businessman Yorgen Fenech. Fenech, 44, stands accused of complicity in her murder and criminal conspiracy, charges he denies.

Prosecutors contend that Fenech, a prominent figure in Malta's business landscape, hired former taxi driver Melvin Theuma to arrange the assassination. Theuma, who has since pleaded guilty and received a presidential pardon in exchange for testimony, detailed how Fenech allegedly paid him €150,000 to find the killers. Theuma claims he recruited the bombers and planned the murder, which involved planting a bomb under Caruana Galizia's car seat.

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Theuma told police that he recruited the bombers and planned the murder in a popular cafe.

Caruana Galizia, 52, was killed in 2017 while investigating corruption on the Mediterranean island. Her murder sent shockwaves across Europe and triggered a political crisis in Malta, eventually leading to the resignation of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat in 2020, though he was never directly linked to the killing.

The trial is expected to last several weeks and is being heard by a jury. Three men arrested shortly after the murder confessed to carrying out the bombing; two received life sentences, and one a lesser sentence for cooperation. Theuma also detailed the execution, which involved detonating the bomb remotely from a yacht after a signal from observers at the scene. Fenech was arrested in late 2019 attempting to flee on his yacht, according to prosecutors. His business dealings, particularly his alleged ownership of the offshore company 17 Black, which Caruana Galizia was investigating for channeling corrupt payments, are central to the case.

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After weeks of surveillance of the 52-year-old victim, they placed a bomb under her car seat.