Times Talk by Times of Malta

In an exclusive interview with Times of Malta, Melvin Theuma, the middleman who helped arrange Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, tells Mark Laurence Zammit why he stands by every word of his evidence against Yorgen Fenech, and why the acquittal has not changed what he knows.

At the end of an intense trial that lasted over two months, the nation held its breath on Wednesday evening as the jury announced a verdict that acquitted Yorgen Fenech of all charges over the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, by eight votes to one.Reactions, comments and protests stretched late into the night. And the morning after the verdict Clara Farrugia sat down with Mark Laurence Zammit to unpack what happened during the verdict and its aftermath, for a Times Talk episode that will be the last in the series produced during the trial.

Editorial note: A version of this episode with English subtitles will be available on the Times of Malta YouTube channelAs the trial of Yorgen Fenech approaches its end, Clara Farrugia answers some of the many questions readers have sent us about this trial.Is any vote by jurors valid? If Fenech is acquitted, will Melvin Theuma be charged with perjury? Why don't courts use lie detectors during trials?Herman Grech hosts this episode in the absence of Mark Laurence Zammit.

A version of this show with English subtitles will be published on the Times of Malta YouTube channel.Yorgen Fenech is the man in the dock. This past week, he was the man on the witness stand, too.The Tumas Group heir and business magnate spent four days testifying in his own trial, as he seeks to defend himself from charges of complicity in the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Fenech said many things while testifying. Some we had heard before. Others were new. His central argument - that he is being framed by his old friend Keith Schembri and taxi driver Melvin Theuma - remained unchanged throughout. In this Times Talk episode, Mark Laurence Zammit and Clara Farrugia go over what Fenech said, what prosecutors asked and what jurors will have to think about after hearing from the man at the heart of this criminal trial.

One of the biggest and most consequential criminal trials in history almost fell apart on Friday.After 45 days of intense hearings, the defence demanded the judge dissolves the trial of Yorgen Fenech after court was told that the jurors had access to news headlines about the trial.In the short time judge Edwina Grima allowed herself to come to a decision, court reporter Clara Farrugia left Hall 22 to sit down for the weekly Times Talk rundown with Mark Laurence Zammit.The two explain what happened, what led to this point and why the judge's decision matters so much in the bigger picture.Before they could finish recording the episode, the second bombshell of the day dropped: Yorgen Fenech took the stand for the first time since he was arrested in 2019, and he began to lay out his version of events.