“So we killed Daphne Caruana Galizia”: one of the three suspects pleads guilty to the journalist’s murder

They killed her with a code sent by text message: “Rel1 = activated“. In this way, about 30 seconds later, the bomb hidden in the car Daphne Caruana Galicia. In this way the Maltese journalist was assassinated. It was to tell investigators Vince muscat, one of three suspects in the murder who pleaded guilty. To inform is the Malta Times. Muscat’s attorney informed the court that his client was entering a guilty plea with respect to all charges he faced in the case.

Muscat’s guilty plea comes a week after the man broke with the legal strategy adopted by the other two defendants in the murder, the brothers. George me Alfred Degiorgio. Sources informed to Malta Times that Muscat collaborated with authorities in hopes of obtaining a reduction in his sentence after the government denied his receive grace. Events in court suggest that a plea deal has been reached: Elaine mercieca, on behalf of the Attorney General’s Office, told the court that Muscat’s office and the attorney submitted a joint request regarding the judgment. The court took note of this request and allowed observations on Muscat’s judgment to be made behind closed doors, admitting only members of the Caruana Galizia family.

In Muscat, the Maltese newspaper, the presidential pardon in exchange for information related to the lawyer’s murder in 2015 Carmel chircop. The measure was approved yesterday by the government and a first fruit of Muscat’s collaboration with the authorities is the arrest today of three men suspected of having supplied the bomb used to kill Caruana Galicia. Siblings Adrian me Robert Agius and his associate Jamie Vella they were arrested during a police operation. Already in December 2017 the three had been arrested during one of the raids that were used to search for the murderers of Caruana Galicia.

According to Muscat, the original plan was to shoot the journalist with precision weapons. Agius and Vella had also supplied rifles with telescopic sights, but the weapons were defective. At that time it was decided to change strategy and aim for the use of a car bomb. Muscat described the explosive device: It was half the size of an A4 sheet of paper and was activated by a code that was sent by text message. A death message that, again according to Muscat, would have been sent by George Degiorgio. It was 3 in the afternoon on October 16, 2017: thirty seconds later the car carrying Caruana Galizia exploded.