Assistant Commissioner Keith Arnaud told a court on Wednesday that the decision to grant Vince Muscat, known as “il-Koħħu”, a presidential pardon was a strategic necessity.
At the time, the prosecution lacked sufficient evidence to build a strong case against other important suspects, Arnaud said. Vince Muscat was very clear in his words and seemed to know what happened, and so he was an important part in continuing the investigation, the officer added.
Arnaud says that Muscat had held the bomb that killed Daphne Caruana Galizia on 16 October 2017.
Muscat was granted a presidential pardon in exchange for testimony on the Chircop murder, while he also testified about Caruana Galizia’s murder after he reached a plea deal which saw him sentenced to 15 years in prison for his involvement in the brutal assassination.
Arnaud was testifying in the case against four men accused of involvement in the murders of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017 and lawyer Carmel Chircop in 2015.
Robert and Adrian Agius, Jamie Vella, and George Degiorgio stand charged with complicity in the two killings, which prosecutors say were carried out using explosives and firearms, and motivated by financial and criminal interests.