Hitman who killed Maltese journalist reveals full details of the plot

One of three men accused of killing a Maltese anti-corruption journalist has revealed the full details of the deadly plot.

Vince Muscat was sentenced to 15 years in prison in February after admitting his involvement in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia - who was killed in a car bomb attack near her home in 2017.

The journalist and mother-of-three – described as a ‘one-woman WikiLeaks’ – was known for exposing cronyism and sleaze within Malta’s political and business elite.

Muscat was hired as a lookout responsible for monitoring the location of Ms Galizia ahead of the attack, he told the court.

Speaking publicly for the first time since pleading guilty, he told today how the original plan to shoot the journalist was dropped in favour of a using car bomb.

They felt using a car bomb was ‘cleaner’ because killing her with a close-range rifle shot would have been ‘too noisy’.

Muscat allegedly worked alongside brothers, Alfred and George Degiorgio – but both have pleaded not guilty.

Local tycoon Yorgen Fenech ordered the hit, according to police, but he too denies wrongdoing.

Muscat claimed the alleged group of assailants hired a car similar to the one Caruana Galizia drove to practice breaking into it.

He also used his statement to apologise to members of Ms Galizia’s family, who were sitting in the courtroom. 

In pre-trial testimony against the Degiorgio brothers, Muscat said Alfred had got him on board, telling him they would be paid 150,000 euros (£128,343) for the murder – 30,000 euros (£25,675) of which was paid in cash upfront.

He said: ‘Alfred Degiorgio came to me and told me there was a good job for me.

‘The plan was to follow her steps and shoot her when the time was right.’ 

He and Alfred followed Ms Galizia’s movements for weeks – with George pushing to use a bomb because it could be planted at night, making it easier to avoid detection, Muscat said.

The pair used an auto-focusing telescope to spy on her in cafes and through the windows of her home, local media reports.

Muscat told the court: ‘We’d be sitting there on two bricks. It was uncomfortable and you’d get sore.

‘I’d go and get food sometimes. I was buying three packs of Rothmans Red a day. 

‘We disposed of the butts in a water bottle, so as not to leave any trace. We watched Daphne on her sofa with a laptop until 2am.’

The initial plan was to shoot Ms Galizia inside her home in the village of Bidnija using a sniper rifle with a telescopic sight device.

Alfred was ready to carry out the assassination – but George said the noise could get them caught.

Muscat said: ‘The plan was to have Alfred shoot from under the tree.

‘I would take him away from the scene in a stolen car. As soon as he shot, I would have to raise the gate so we could escape.’ 

While keeping watch over Ms Galizia’s house on the night of October 15, 2017, they noticed that, unusually, she had parked her car outside the gate. 

Muscat said he picked up the bomb, which was hidden in a shoebox, and met up with the other hitmen. 

The trio placed the device beneath the driver’s seat.

The bomb – which had 500g of explosives – had a petrol-filled water bottle attached to it to maximize the devastating impact, the court heard.

He described it to the court, saying: ‘Six inches thick, five inches wide and three inches long

‘It was a neat bomb, it had a stainless steel face.’ 

The bomb ‘came with a mobile phone’ with a slot for a SIM card. To detonate it, a particular text needed to be sent to the SIM.

At 5am the next morning, Muscat told the court that he and Alfred returned to a vantage point overlooking the house. 

In the early afternoon the court heard they saw Ms Galizia drive off and informed George, who was in a boat off shore ready to trigger the bomb remotely.

He detonated the bomb before his brother had given him the go-ahead. 

Ms Galizia’s car was out of sight and Muscat said they did not hear the explosion. ‘I thought it didn’t go off, it was no good,’ he said.

Then they looked back and saw a plume of smoke. 

He added: ‘We were walking back to the car. We didn’t hear anything.

‘Alfred said, “I don’t think it exploded.” I looked back and saw black smoke. I swear, your Honour, we heard nothing from there. We heard only a small sound.’ 

A few weeks later, Muscat met Alfred who warned of looming police raids. They found out about the date of their arrest two or three weeks ahead of time.

Muscat said Degiorgio had told him he was getting information from Chris Cardona, who was then economic services minister and had often been attacked in Caruana Galizia’s blogs. Cardona has always denied any involvement in, or knowledge of the murder case.

The three alleged hitmen were eventually arrested on December 4, 2017. 

They made sure they were together in the same place when the police arrived. They expected to be released after a few days, but bail was repeatedly refused. 

Seven people in total have been charged with the plot, including tycoon Fenech.

Muscat also named former-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s former chief of staff Keith Schembri. The accused Muscat is no relation to the former-PM.