‘He Shouldn’t Have Killed Her’: Secret Tapes and Bluff Claims Take Centre Stage in Fenech Trial

Johann Cremona, a business associate of Yorgen Fenech, faced extensive questioning from both the prosecution and defence regarding secretly recorded conversations between himself and Melvin Theuma.

Cremona repeated his earlier line and told the court that many of the statements he made in the recordings were “bluff” or exaggerations intended solely to calm down an increasingly paranoid Theuma. He stated that Theuma made his life “a misery for a year and a half.”

Cremona testified that Yorgen Fenech once suggested framing former Minister Chris Cardona for the murder during a meeting at a Żebbuġ ranch, though Cremona asserted this framing plot was entirely fabricated.

Explaining the visit, Cremona said they had bought pastizzi and brought them to Fenech, who was living at the ranch “like an animal” due to marital problems, staying only 20 minutes to help pack his clothes.

He  also confirmed exchanging Signal messages with former OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri about lead investigator Keith Arnaud. Confronted with chats saying “let’s not go up to testify” and “we won’t let him [Arnaud]”, he admitted he turned to Schembri out of panic because he had “nobody else to talk to.”

Cross-examination by defence lawyer Giannella De Marco focused heavily on Kenneth Camilleri, a security officer at Castille for then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Cremona acknowledged that Camilleri introduced him to the wider narrative post-murder by asking Cremona to drive him to Zurrieq to meet Theuma.

Towards the end of his direct testimony, an emotional Cremona addressed Judge Edwina Grima directly, demanding an investigation into how audio recordings featuring his voice were leaked to blogger Simon Mercieca, stating his children were being taunted with them.

In one recording, Theuma expressed intent to go to Castille to demand €100,000 from Schembri, claiming “Keith will shit himself.”  In another exchange, Theuma claimed he had recorded several key people, including Keith Schembri.

The defence highlighted recorded claims that Theuma boasted of having influenced the former police commissioner, alleging that the commissioner had listened to the recordings before Theuma’s arrest and that advance information was leaked regarding police raids.

Theuma alleged that Edwin Brincat (il-Ġojja) paid €5,000 of a €16,000 sum to the police commissioner so he could travel. However, this has been denied by all parties as Theuma inflating connections out of fear of Fenech and Schembri.

In an agitated excerpt, Theuma swore repeatedly and said, “Come and see who you engaged… He shouldn’t have killed her,” which Cremona confirmed referred to Yorgen Fenech ordering the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Theuma was recorded saying Fenech would “never be free of them” (referring to hitmen George and Alfred Degiorgio). Theuma said in the tapes: “Yorgen engaged them and dragged me into it… Yorgen didn’t realise that if they were caught, they would blackmail him for the rest of his life.”

Theuma recalled Fenech telling him that “power” and “strength” belonged to them but complained that Fenech had abandoned him when things got tough:

“When they still hadn’t killed her, he kept telling me, ‘Go speak to him…’ Now you’re avoiding me, Yorgen.”

Theuma said in recordings: “Thank God I took photos of all those messages, and recorded him so much.”

Theuma said he was considering “making a deal” to reveal everything to investigators. Cremona was heard in the tape urging him to remain calm and warning him: “He [Fenech] can’t escape from this story. He would like to, but he can’t,” Theuma told him.

Discussions also touched on €400,000 allegedly required to ensure the hitmen wouldn’t expose Cardona, and references were made to lawyer Arthur Azzopardi holding around €300,000 for hitman Vince Muscat (il-Koħħu).

In multiple excerpts, payments to the imprisoned Degiorgio brothers were discussed, with Theuma remarking, “They love killing, they love money.”

The recordings detailed ongoing financial pressure from convicted hitmen, who demanded continuous monthly payouts (€2,000 each).

The trial began with video-link testimony from former Europol forensic expert Yulia Toma, who detailed digital extractions from devices seized from Melvin Theuma’s inner circle. While data from one iPhone was unlocked, attempts on a second device failed due to system limits.