Melvin Theuma, the self-confessed middleman in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, told jurors that he was told to warn the ‘Maksars’ that police were targeting their Żebbuġ garage.
Testifying against Robert Agius, known as ‘Ta’ Maksar’ and his associate Jamie Vella, who stand accused of supplying the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia in 2017, Theuma detailed how he acted as a go-between for Yorgen Fenech and the hitmen. Fenech, the alleged mastermind, is still awaiting trial.
Theuma told jurors on Thursday that Fenech handed him €150,000 in cash, instructing him to pass it to the Degiorgio brothers for the hit, according to the Times of Malta. He claimed that the order to proceed came shortly after the 2017 general election, when Fenech allegedly told him, “move ahead [with] Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder”.
Theuma said he paid the €30,000 deposit to Alfred Degiorgio and later passed on another €125,000, even covering an extra €5,000 himself.
As the investigation began closing in, Theuma recounted mounting paranoia and fear. He began recording conversations with Fenech and described being told to “look for Ta’ Maksar” after fears that hitman Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, was cooperating with police. In messages and calls, Fenech allegedly urged him to warn the Maksars that police were targeting the Żebbuġ garage where the bomb was assembled.
Theuma also linked senior government figures to post-murder damage control. He testified that in 2018, a man named Kenneth Camilleri, whom he associated with then-OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri, visited him with Johann Cremona and passed on an offer: bail and €1 million each for the hitmen, to be delivered in suitcases. Theuma said all he wanted was for the three hitmen to get bail.
He also described suicidal thoughts following the arrests of the hitmen, but then thought that if he died, the story would die and Yorgen Fenech would celebrate. He said he was overcome with remorse and “became a slave to sin”.
Theuma’s testimony painted a picture of escalating blackmail, threats, and growing desperation, with money flowing to the Degiorgios and their relatives to secure silence, including €30,000 for lawyers, €60,000 for bail, and regular weekly prison payments.
In one message allegedly from Fenech, Theuma was told to install the encrypted app Signal. Later, Fenech reportedly told him: “There’s a big problem. Vince Muscat is revealing everything.”