Eyewitness testimony from police officers and members of the public who were at the scene of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination provided graphic details of her murder.

Francis Sant gave his first-hand account of the explosion:

“On 16th October 2017, I was driving from Mosta towards Bidnija. It was around 3 pm. I was alone. I suddenly noticed a car opposite me. Something had happened to her. She looked panicked.”

“She wasn’t right. I thought, what’s wrong with her? A few seconds passed – things happened so fast. I saw the first spark, under her car, like a festa firework going off. She was still conscious. I heard her scream. Her window was open; maybe in panic she tried to roll down her window and get out.”

“When that first spark happened. I think she either felt something, maybe the bomb device activating. She realised something was very wrong.”

“Then, a big explosion came out through the windscreen.”

“The car went out of control. The second explosion tore it apart. It flew into the field, where another ball of fire formed. I think it was the petrol. The car was literally shredded.”

“I knew there was no hope. I didn’t even think of my phone. A person passed, and I told them to call the police.”

Police Officer Susanne Mifsud also provided a graphic account.

“When I arrived on scene. I could see the victim’s car in the field. It was a total loss. This wasn’t a simple fire. It was a bomb. I started taking details. I noticed a number plate. Right near it, there was a body part, a thigh. Further up, there were a large number of the victim’s body parts.”

The police officer’s testimony was echoed by scene of crime officers, who detailed how they brought in Dutch forensic experts and later discovered pieces of the car and the victim near the scene of the crime, along with items left behind from the explosive device.

They also described discovering cigarette butts near the suspected vantage point. Those cigarettes matched the DNA of Alfred Degiorgio, one of the hitmen convicted of carrying out the murder.

Investigators Had Daphne’s Calls, Emails And Messages – Europol Report Author Testifies

Martin van der Meyn, a Dutch investigator who worked for Europol at the time of the murder, took to the stand earlier in the day.

He authored a report that has already been referenced during the trial. During cross-examination of Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud, Fenech’s defence team asked questions about a Europol report that named Keith Schembri and Chris Cardona as ‘potential instigators’.

The report, Martin van der Meyn clarified, was authored and finalised in May 2018 and focused on a data analysis of Daphne’s SIM card, which had been cloned, and her cloud data. This included all messages, calls and emails, as well as the content on her website.

“She was an active journalist and communicating quite extensively, so there was a lot of data, which is why we came to a number of scenarios. The report was not written to identify suspects; it was to possibly identify scenarios that require further investigation.”

The report was submitted in May 2018 solely to Magistrate Anthony Vella and court expert Martin Bajada. It was resubmitted only in February 2024, during the compilation of evidence against Fenech. This corroborates Arnaud’s statement that he only knew of the report much later, after Fenech’s arrest.

The trial continues tomorrow.