Malta businessman acquitted in Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case

A Maltese jury on Wednesday acquitted businessman Yorgen Fenech of masterminding the 2017 car bomb killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, ending the prosecution of the last of several people charged in the plot that shook Malta and drew international scrutiny.

Fenech, 44, had been accused of complicity in murder and criminal conspiracy, also described as criminal association to commit murder. Prosecutors alleged he ordered and paid for the killing because Caruana Galizia was about to publish information about him. He pleaded not guilty and denied the accusations.

After about eight hours of deliberation, the jury cleared him of both counts by an 8-1 margin, Al Jazeera reported. If convicted, he could have faced life in prison.

Caruana Galizia’s family members were seen weeping in the packed Valletta courtroom after the verdict, while Fenech’s relatives celebrated, according to Al Jazeera. Fenech left the courthouse without comment, walking through a chaotic scene outside as hecklers shouted before he entered a waiting car. No cameras were allowed in the courtroom, as is typical in Maltese criminal trials.

In a statement later posted to Facebook, Caruana Galizia’s family said the verdict denied her the “justice she deserves.”

“Nine years after Daphne’s brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed,” the family said. “Lasting justice means no person should ever face the same risks again. Our country failed to protect Daphne. It owes it to her to prevent other lives being lost.”

Caruana Galizia, 53, was killed on Oct. 16, 2017, when a bomb placed in her car was detonated as she drove near her home. A prominent anticorruption reporter sometimes dubbed a “one-woman WikiLeaks,” she wrote extensively about suspected corruption in Malta’s political and business circles, including people close to then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, opposition figures and business leaders.

Her reporting focused in part on offshore companies in tax havens disclosed in the Panama Papers leak. At the time of her death, she was facing more than 40 libel suits.

The killing shocked Europe’s journalism community and triggered mass protests in Malta. Fenech, a prominent businessman involved in a consortium that won a controversial government contract to build a power station, was arrested in 2019 as he was sailing away from Malta on his yacht. His arrest intensified demonstrations that culminated in Muscat’s resignation. Al Jazeera reported that Muscat was never linked to the murder and stepped down in January 2020 because of the political fallout.

Fenech’s defense pointed to Keith Schembri, a former chief of staff to Muscat and one-time friend of Fenech who had been a target of Caruana Galizia’s blogs. Police told the court Schembri had never been a suspect, and he has denied any role in the killing.

An independent inquiry published in 2021 concluded that the Maltese state “has to bear responsibility” for the assassination because of a culture of impunity. Al Jazeera reported that the inquiry found officials had failed to protect Caruana Galizia from threats to her life before she was killed.

Several other people have been convicted or admitted roles in the murder. In 2022, George Degiorgio and his brother Alfred Degiorgio pleaded guilty to carrying out the killing and were sentenced to 40 years in prison each. In 2025, Jamie Vella and Robert Agius were sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of complicity in the murder; they were accused of supplying the bomb. Vincent Muscat pleaded guilty in 2021 and received a 15-year prison sentence. Taxi driver Melvin Theuma, who described himself as a middleman, was granted a presidential pardon in 2019 in exchange for testimony.