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Yorgen Fenech compilation: Three days after Caruana Galizia murder, body parts were recovered from a tree
Rescuers describe the gruesome scene they found at Bidnija on the day Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated • Compilation of evidence against business magnate Yorgen Fenech continues
11 February 2021, 11:58am
Matthew Agius
Matthew Agius
2 min read
Murder suspect Yorgen Fenech
Three days after Daphne Caruana Galizia was murdered in Bidnija, body parts were recovered from a tree, a rescuer testified in court on Thursday.
Arthur Grech, who was stationed at the civil protection department’s depot in Xemxija, testified on the gruesome scene that awaited rescuers.
“We went to the scene and saw a car in the middle of a field. We went and put it out. After putting it out we saw that there was a person inside it. Later we found pieces of a body strewn here and there… On the 19 [October 2017] we were informed by the AFM that assistance was needed to retrieve pieces of the body from a tree,” Grech said.
He was testifying in the compilation of evidence against murder suspect Yorgen Fenech. The court denied a fresh request for bail by Fenech.
Caruana Galizia was murdered on 16 October 2017 just after leaving her house in Bidnija. A bomb placed inside her car was detonated remotely by an SMS.
Three men stand charged with executing the murder, while business magnate Yorgen Fenech is charged with being the mastermind.
Another CPD officer, Frederick Sammut, testified that upon arriving on the scene of the crime it was clear that there was nothing that could be done. “Near the car there was an arm and there was a person burning inside,” he said.
Harry Eddleston, another rescuer, described how the car was on fire in the middle of a field.
“As we walked towards it we found a lower leg on the ground,” he testified.
A Mosta couple, who live on the ridge opposite Bidnija testified how they had seen a small white car parked in their road on the day of the murder.
The car had been spotted in the area on a number of occasions at least a couple of months before the murder. After Caruana Galizia was assassinated, the car never appeared again.
The car, a rental, belonged to the three men charged with killing Caruana Galizia and who were using the ridge as a vantage point to spy on Caruana Galizia’s property and movements.
From previous court testimony, it transpires that two of the accused – Alfred Degiorgio and Vince Muscat - acted as spotters on the ridge, giving the third man, George Degiorgio, the signal to send the killer SMS that detonated the bomb.
Courtroom players
Magistrate Rachel Montebello is presiding.
Superintendent Keith Arnaud and Inspector Kurt Zahra are prosecuting, aided by Deputy Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia.
Fenech’s defence lawyers are Marion Camilleri, Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran.
Lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are appearing parte civile for the Caruana Galizia family.
15:01 The next sitting is on 18 March between 11am and 3pm.
Kurt Sansone
15:01 The court considers the risk of approaching witnesses and third parties is still present and the police investigation has not yet concluded despite three years have passed. The court says it is not convinced that the accused would not flee Malta if granted bail. However, the magistrate says that the prosecution must bring its other witnesses forward without delay.
Kurt Sansone
14:59 Bail is denied.
Kurt Sansone
14:59 The magistrate emerges from chambers. She swiftly reads her decree.
Kurt Sansone
14:16 The court retires for a few minutes to give a decree on the matter.
Kurt Sansone
14:15 He quotes case law stating that it is not sensible to arrest someone and then investigate. “I hope this is not the case here. When you charge someone, that’s it, the game is on,” the lawyer says.
Kurt Sansone
14:15 Mercieca draws the court’s attention to the application filed by the accused in May last year asking for civilian witnesses to be summoned without delay.
Kurt Sansone
14:14 Fenech’s lawyer insists, the accused had no intention of fleeing Malta.
Kurt Sansone
14:13 Mercieca says the inquiry was inactive for eight months, while it was at the Attorney General. “So, what is happening now could have happened before, so why should the accused suffer for this?”
Kurt Sansone
14:12 Inspector Kurt Zahra says the police are still talking to people who may testify in these proceedings.
Kurt Sansone
14:11 Galea Farrugia points to the messages sent by Fenech, asking for his children to be taken care of. “The investigation is still underway and I am not privy to the magisterial inquiry, so I cannot identify who the witnesses are. it is a very wide investigation,” the deputy AG says.
Kurt Sansone
14:10 He says the defence is citing a memo sent by the accused to himself in which he stated his intention to come back, but is forgetting that Dr Adrian Vella testified on plans being made of an escape on a fishing vessel.
Kurt Sansone
14:09 Galea Farrugia insists the investigation “is very active”.
Kurt Sansone
14:08 Deputy Attorney General Philip Galea Farrugia says that comparisons are odious, in particular when speaking of bail. Circumstances are very different from one case to another, he says. He disagrees with the argument that all the fears must subsist for bail to be refused and on the fear of tampering with evidence, the deputy AG argues it is a fact that the investigation is still underway and “actively hearing witnesses”.
Kurt Sansone
14:06 Mercieca: “After 15 months in custody, Fenech is requesting bail under the conditions which the court sees fit.”
Kurt Sansone
14:06 The court interjects: “Conclude please.”
Kurt Sansone
14:05 The lawyer says that in the past few months, five people accused of the same crimes as Fenech, who were granted bail. “What difference is there between them and him?”
Kurt Sansone
14:05 Mercieca quotes case law stating that the onus of surveillance of persons on bail is that of the state. “Bail is a right and Fenech has a clean criminal record. When there was an attempt at tampering with evidence, it was Fenech himself who had come forward to the police and revealed it,” Mercieca says.
Kurt Sansone
14:01 Mercieca notes that previously, police bail had been granted with officers being with his client 24/7. “A third party guarantor could also share the responsibility for the accused for any breach of any condition if it happens,” the lawyer says.
Kurt Sansone
13:59 He argues that the obligation to sign a bail book is a strong one. “Yorgen Fenech is also prepared to finance technological solutions for bail, such as CCTV,” Mercieca tells the court.
Kurt Sansone
13:58 The defence lawyer says Fenech has strong ties to Malta. “A foreign company mentioned by the prosecution no longer exists and he therefore has no commercial interest outside Malta,” Mercieca says.
Kurt Sansone
13:57 Mercieca says that Yorgen Fenech had left a memo in his mobile phone before leaving on his yacht the Gio, in which he wrote: ‘My intention is to come back. I do not intend to leave Malta.’ Mercieca says this memo shows Fenech’s intention to return back to Malta.
Kurt Sansone
13:54 Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca says bail requires objective criteria to be met. “[We are] a year into the case, judgments of the European Court of Human Rights state that the passage of time reduces the fears listed in the criminal code,” he argues. Mercieca quotes case law stating that all the fears must subsist at the same time.
Kurt Sansone
13:51 The court will now deal with an application for bail. The Attorney General had submitted a note of reply and Zahra told the court that the prosecution was joining the AG in his arguments.
Kurt Sansone
13:49 In the interim another car was used, he says. That concludes the witness testimony for today.
Kurt Sansone
13:48 He leaves the stand. His brother, Alex Fenech, takes the stand to confirm the lease contract. Alex is also a director at Percius Car Hire. He tells the court that in January 2017, he had been contacted by Peter Caruana Galizia to lease a car for his wife. She took delivery of the new car in June 2017. He says the number plate was QQZ-668.
Kurt Sansone
13:47 Fenech says that he had touched the car once, to repair a bumper-to-bumper accident.
Kurt Sansone
13:46 David Fenech from Percius Car Hire takes the stand next. He took care of the cars, he says. The company had provided the car used by Daphne Caruana Galizia - a new grey Peugeot 108. “We ordered it, brand new for her. She would lease cars for five years. She chose the car herself,” he says.
Kurt Sansone
13:41 Gera leaves the stand.
Kurt Sansone
13:40 Gera says he would accompany the magistrate when he was hearing witnesses in his chambers.
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13:40 Inspector Zahra asks him if he had any other involvement in the case.
Kurt Sansone
13:39 Gera: “We weren't sure if there was dangerous material still on the site, which could have injured police or workers. Tents were erected to preserve the evidence and to provide command and control capabilities.”
Kurt Sansone
13:38 Gera says that even after the incident, he would follow the magistrate and provide security.
Kurt Sansone
13:37 Gera was appointed as a site safety expert and to provide security to the magistrate and had gone with him to the scene of the incident. “We noted that heavy lifting equipment was required, tents and fridges had to be bought,” he tells the court.
Kurt Sansone
13:37 Eddleston leaves the witness box and John Gera steps up. Gera is a former manager at the CPD, who was transferred to another entity in 2013. He says that at the time of the murder he was summoned by magistrate Anthony Vella to assist him in the inquiry.
Kurt Sansone
13:33 Harry Eddleston a firefighter from CPD testifies next. “At the scene, the car was on fire. We went down to put it out. As we walked towards it we found a lower leg on the ground,” he testifies.
Kurt Sansone
13:30 The witness steps off the stand.
Kurt Sansone
13:30 Grech: “We went to the scene and saw a car in the middle of a field. We went and put it out. After putting it out we saw that there was a person inside it. Later we found pieces of a body strewn here and there… On the 19 [October 2017] we were informed by the AFM that assistance was needed to retrieve pieces of the body from a tree. We cut down parts of it with a chainsaw.”
Kurt Sansone
13:28 The next witness is Arthur Grech from the CPD depot in Xemxija. He had been called out to Bidnija on the day of the explosion.
Kurt Sansone
13:27 Frederick Sammut: “It was clear that there was nothing that could be done... Near the car there was an arm and there was a person burning inside.”
Kurt Sansone
13:27 Frederick Sammut, a CPD station officer at Xemxija, takes the witness stand. He had taken the call reporting an explosion and fire at Bidnija and gone to the scene.
Kurt Sansone
13:26 She says that her husband had pointed out the car to her, “a couple of months” before 16 October. She is not certain if she had seen anyone inside the car. “This was three years ago,” she says.
Kurt Sansone
13:24 Witness: “No, never.”
Kurt Sansone
13:24 Inspector Zahra: “Did you see the car again?”
Kurt Sansone
13:23 She tells the court that on 16 October 2017, she was leaving home at 9am towards Mosta. “I saw a parked car. It wasn't parked normally as it was very close to my house... I came home later from the Mġarr side. At 2:30pm I left again and saw the car still there. I spoke to a neighbour and then returned home at 6pm. Between 2:30pm and 6pm I wasn't at home. The car was a very small, common one. I noticed it was a rental as its registration ended in QZ. It was white.”
Kurt Sansone
13:15 Sammut tells the court that on the day of the explosion, he left the house at around midday to check the mail and the white car was parked across from his gate. “At 3pm I heard the explosion... and thought it was a door slamming. On the internet, I saw reports of an explosion at Bidnija and I looked outside. I saw a commotion... fire engines, ambulance, police,” he recounts.
Kurt Sansone
13:14 He tells the court: “The road isn't used much so when you see an unusual car you get suspicious. I had told my wife to keep her eyes open... it was a small white car…”
Kurt Sansone
13:11 Carmel Wallis Sammut from Mosta takes the stand. He had assisted the police some years ago about the presence of a car near his house, which then stopped appearing after the bombing.
Kurt Sansone
13:10 Aquilina says the report was exhibited before then magistrate Anthony Vella. He steps down from the witness stand.
Kurt Sansone
13:08 The first witness today is Perit Richard Aquilina. He takes the stand. Aquilina had been appointed by the inquiring magistrate to draw up a site plan of the murder scene in Bidnija.
Kurt Sansone
13:08 The court says it never prohibited any publications on Fenech or his business interests. The defence retorts that it had suffered leaks of mobile phone conversations. The court says the issue was referred to the police for any action they saw fit.
Kurt Sansone
13:05 “Nobody deserves to be attacked in the carrying out of his duties... The protection of the court is required by all those involved in this case,” Mercieca says.
Kurt Sansone
13:03 Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca argues that the AG isn't mentioning the series of comments and leaks against the accused, which were harming the defendant's interests.
Kurt Sansone
13:02 Galea Farrugia: “The publications in question are impeding me in my work and are attacks on my integrity and an intimidation.”
Kurt Sansone
13:01 Galea Farrugia asks the court for protection against the allegations made by Simon Mercieca.
Kurt Sansone
13:00 Galea Farrugia says it was not true that he pressed charges against the lawyers. “I was present at FCID as there was a money laundering investigation on separate cases about three individuals not because of the lawyers,” the deputy AG says. He notes that the Attorney General herself and another lawyer from the office was conducting the prosecution of the two lawyers to avoid conflicts of interest.
Kurt Sansone
12:58 Deputy AG Philip Galea Farrugia says that on 28 December the court had decreed and condemned the unjust attacks against himself. Academic Simon Mercieca had published two articles “full of lies” alleging that he had filed charges against Fenech’s defence lawyers Charles Mercieca and Gianluca Caruana Curran, he says.
Kurt Sansone
12:56 Defence lawyer Charles Mercieca asks if there is a reply by the Attorney General on a bail request for the accused.
Kurt Sansone
12:53 Yorgen Fenech is led into the dock escorted by security officers from the Corradino Correctional Facility. The magistrate emerges from chambers and the sitting begins.
Kurt Sansone
12:47 The previous sitting is over and the magistrate has retired to chambers. We are waiting for Yorgen Fenech to be brought in from the lock up.
Kurt Sansone
12:46 The courtroom players are trickling in. Inspector Kurt Zahra, lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia, Gianluca Caruana Curran, Marion Camilleri and Charles Mercieca are present. Deputy AG Philip Galea Farrugia has also entered the courtroom. Reporters, family members of the accused and the victim are also present.
Kurt Sansone
12:38 We are waiting for another case to end before the compilation starts.
Kurt Sansone
12:04 In the last court sitting, several witnesses testified, including a man who saw Caruana Galizia's car explode and go up in flames on 16 October 2017.
Kurt Sansone
12:03 We will be following proceedings live.
Kurt Sansone
12:02 The compilation of evidence against Yorgen Fenech continues today. Court proceedings are expected to start at around 12:30pm.
Kurt Sansone
12:02 Good afternoon.
Kurt Sansone
Matthew Agius was Senior Reporter on Law and Court Affairs at MaltaToday from 2014 to 2024...
