September 25, 2024 • 38 mins
Welcome to Malta, a picture-postcard tourist destination… with a dark underbelly. Meet Daphne Caruana Galizia, a fearless journalist who was determined to expose Malta’s culture of crime and corruption.
Crooks Everywhere is a production of iHeartPodcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci.
The voice of Daphne Caruana Galizia is played by Sienna Miller.
The senior producer is Leo Hornak. The producer is Maddie Hickish.
The executive producers are: Christy Gressman for Topic Studios; Katrina Norvell and Nikki Ettore for iHeart Podcasts; Johnny Galvin and Daniel Turcan for Vespucci; and Sienna Miller.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
There are crooks everywhere you look. Now the situation is desperate.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Eighth of October twenty fifteen, just before seven am a
sleepy Thursday morning, in the town of Birgerkara, in the
center of Motawn, tightly wound medieval streets, beautiful, pale yellow
limestone churches, all just beginning to catch the first rays
of the early morning Mediterranean sun. Inside the houses and
(00:41):
apartments here, most people are still asleep or just waking up.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
But here, on the top floor of an early empty
multi story garage on john Board Street, three men are
wide awake, crashing the seats of a stolen Toyota Parks
so they can watch the road down below.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
They wait.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
In this episode, we've taken evidence heard in the courtroom
and reconstructed what happened according to that testimony. We've dramatized
the evidence and provided color in places without changing any
of the material facts or allegations.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
Okay, JJ dot lest.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
In the driving seat is George de Georgia, around fifty
two years old, thinning hair, a little overweight, but an
intimidating presence. He's officially long term unemployed, but also able
somehow to support a remarkably luxurious lifestyle, luxury cars, including
a white Corvette, and his own fishing yacht. George is
(01:48):
well known to the police in his line of work.
Most people know him by his Multese street name of Itchinese,
the Chinese one. In the way of these names, the
origin is mysterious. Chinese George de Georgia is not from
an Asian family. He's one hundred percent Maltese and right now,
like the others in this toyota, he's kied up waiting
(02:10):
for the job to.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Begin in the back seats, watching the streets. The two men, allegedly.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
One of them is Vincent il Kochu Mouscat. His Maltese
nickname translates roughly to the sound made by someone coughing.
This recreation is based on his courtroom testimony about that morning.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
And after him then a list.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Like Chinese George, Vincent the Coff is middle aged with
decades of work behind him. He too has a reputation
with the police, and allegedly, alongside Vincent the Cuff in
the car is the final member of the team. Jamie Vella,
in his early thirties, the youngest of the three, also
known to the police. He's seen as knowledgeable about firearms.
(02:56):
By the other two. There's an AK forty seven, a
Russian the designed submachine gun, resting under deceit near him.
Jamie also allegedly has with him a revolver, his main weapon.
This morning, and on.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
This October morning, in twenty fifteen, in this busy channel
in Malta, these men in the car are a team,
even if you like a family.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
For now, and there is another thing that unites these
three their shared and bloody future, the reason we're telling
you this story. At least two of these men will
one day be the foot soldiers and the murder of
my country's most famous journalist, the assassination of a beloved wife, mother,
(03:40):
daughter and sister, and for me and many Maltese people
also an inspiration. The journalist's name is Deafnely Karwana Galitzia,
not Jane.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
Shane.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
But on this day in twenty fifteen, as these men
sit impatiently in a stolen car in an empty multi
story garage that is still a long way off, on
this morning, we will later be told in court they
are all still waiting for just one thing, the signal
(04:18):
to start their work. And then Vincent Lecough spots something.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Maltese for heads up. I can see him. He's coming
up the street. Some way off. A man in a
business suit is approaching, walking towards the entrance to the
garage Chinese George. George drives down through the almost deserted garage,
heading to street level. They don't have long They need
(04:51):
to be at the entrance before this man reaches the building.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
As George drives, Jimmy and Vincent allegedly pull on Balaclava's
it's good to look the part. They pull over to
a space on the ground floor with a view of
the entrance onto the street. It won't be long now.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Along the walls of each floor are dozens of small,
lockablelee garages. You can rent one out for a small fee.
It's more private and secure than parking on the street,
but that also means that if you use one of
these garages regularly the same time every day, people can
guess where to find you.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
The street entrance opens, and the man in the suit
walks calmly in a leather bag in one hand, patting
his pockets with the other hand to find his keys.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Oblivious, the Toyota edges forward twenty meters away in the
back seat, Jamie allegedly lowers the window and takes the
safety off the revolver ten meters five meters.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
The man in the suit has his keys out now
and he's standing just in front of Garage number forty six,
close to the entrance. As he puts the key in
the lock, he turns his back to the Toyota for
a moment, pulling the shutter open with his.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Weight, and that's when the car passes right next to him,
close enough to the chiut untouched. The shots are a
most point blank, a whole clip.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
It's clear there's no need for a second pass. According
to Vincent Lakoff, Chinese George drives straight through the exit
into the back streets of Berkha Kara. They've rehearsed the
route to the safe house. Jamie in the back seat
stashes his weapon from here. It's just routine, planned for
(06:59):
the last it's what they do.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
The man in the suit's name is carmelker Kopp, a lawyer,
married thirty five years, in business with some dangerous people.
As is normal for this kind of crime in Malta,
no one will be convicted for his murder. As is
normal for this kind of crime in Malta, no one
will even be arrested. For years.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
No one is chasing these men now through Berkhakara, and
no one will. These men are free to kill again
and again until one day, two years later, when they
make the mistake of taking out Malta's most famous journalist.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
This is the story of how my home, a smaller
European democracy, a picture postcard tourist destination, came to be
a place where the criminals set the rules, where crime
and politics merge, a place where some people can literally
get away with murder. This is a story you might
have heard part of before, but it's only now, in
(08:09):
twenty twenty four, that we are coming close to the
full truth. From iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci, this
is Crooks Everywhere, Episode one, Drive by in Birkerkara. My
(08:36):
name is Manuel Delilla. I'm a former multist political operative
and government official, and I was inspired to become a
journalist by this story we will be telling in this podcast,
the brutal murder of deaf Nie Carwana Galicia in twenty seventeen.
Ever since her death, I've been one of the people
trying to discover not just who killed her, but who
(08:58):
ordered her killing and why and how they are connected
to some of the most powerful people in the country.
It's an incredible and terrifying story. This might sound grand,
but for me, whether we find justice for Dephni is
about the future of this whole nation, about the kind
of country my children will be living in. But to
(09:21):
tell this story, I knew I needed someone with the
experience to take on difficult and even dangerous stories. And
that's why I called up my friend and mentor, mister
John Sweeney.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Thank you very much, sir.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Six years ago I didn't know John except from the TV,
but now he's an old friend. He's a former BBC
man and if you ask me, one of the best
investigative and war reporters in the world. And probably if
you ask him.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
To oh, leave it out, galv I'm only here to
make trouble for the wrong kind of people.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
John stuck up inconvenient truths on subjects as varied as scientology,
North Korea and the life of Gillame Maxwell. And for
years he's chronicled the corruption and crimes of Vladimir pu
sometimes on the front lines of Ukraine.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
When a journalist is murdered. It's not just a tragedy
for a family. It's an attempt to shut down what
we all do. Journalism is about trying to tell truth
about the world, to keep power and money in check,
to give a voice to the voiceless. The moment I
arrived in Malta after Daphne's murder, I sense this wasn't
(10:28):
just the snuffing out of one extraordinary woman. Someone was
trying to silence a whole country, to prevent it from
asking the wrong kind of questions. And for me, this
is a story that has lessons for every country where
power and money use crime to settle scores. I see
(10:52):
this story played out in varying degrees across the world,
in Russia, in America, in Britain. And that's why this
story matters whether you're Maltese or not. And for a
subject like this, you need an insider, someone who knows
the place, someone like Manuel.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
A few years ago, when my writing about corruption led
to me and my family receive incredible threats, I decided
to leave the country temporarily. When I was stuck a
long way from home, wondering if I was doing the
right thing. John was one of the friends who visited
me and became someone I could turn to. We've written
a book together about Defnie and Malta's recent history, along
(11:36):
with our co author, mafia expert Carlo Bonini. But a
lot has changed since that book came out five years ago.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Although do please buy it. Murder on the Malta Express
is still available in all good bookshops.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
We now know a lot more about men like Chinese
George and Vincent, the cough and the men who were
accused of paying them. So what this Jack? I've invited
John back to my home country. You see, I'm proud
of this wonderful complex place. Hello John, Good morning morning.
(12:10):
We're in Touchbash, which is part of the Northern Harbor,
just north of Aleta, and we're going to the boat right,
that's for that.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
I've got my sea legs on.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Let's go meet.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Ask. So what's this? What's the ship called again? A
gin Fizz? Gin Fizz. I'm already thinking of that gin
Fiz as we speak. All right, guys, you guys have
probably been on Boast before, but I still have to
go through the safety briefing by law.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Can everybody swim?
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Yeah? Any medical issues I need to know.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
About a few facts to begin. Mota is the smallest
country in the European Union, a chain of islands in
the Mediterranean between Sicily and North Africa. Our whole country
is less than half the size of New York City
or London. It's also densely populated. There are half a
million people here and plenty of history. We speak our
(13:10):
own unique language derived from medieval Arabic eat footed that
might remind you of Italy. And we're ruled as a
British colony for one hundred and fifty years. And the
jewel of this nation, our beautiful capital city of Valletta,
is set in the majestic Grand Harbor. And you know what,
grand and majestic are no exaggerations. This view can turn
(13:33):
even a grizzled reporter like John to poverty.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
So we're passing into Grand Harbor, which is one of
the most beautiful in the world.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
And there's something.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
About the honeycomb stone of Malta and the construction it
was roughly the same time that constructed Venice of that
kind of era.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
It's extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Found years off.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
So Venice is when venices twelve hundred, Venice is all up,
you're about four hundred years off.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
I know nothing.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Look, this is a beautiful place, and I can see
why John thinks of Venice when he's sees it. In
one direction from the boat, you can see a skyline
jump built full of Renaissance churches, domes and forts, all
crisscrossed with waterways and inlets, ferries and sailing boats.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
There's a gown a little boat zooming along. Looks rather cool.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
But alongside the history there is also the other Malta here,
the new Malta of multi story concrete hotels and luxury
apartment blocks, crowding right up to the water, catering for
the new elite, and for some this is a playground.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
So the scale of the money here in boats is
an extraordinary umber passing one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight nine, and not quite super yachts, but they're pretty
nice yachts.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Well, if I'm careful where to look, I still love
this place. This is my country. This bay is where
I was brought up. This is where I went to swim,
This is where I crossed the ferry to go to Valletta,
my first job. And I see on one side hasn't
changed much. And if you see photos from fifty or
one hundred years ago hasn't changed much. On the other side,
(15:20):
you blink and it's six stories higher.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And this is rash of concrete. Acne is a symbol
of the dirty money that is besieging Malta.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Well you call it a symbol, John, it's actually a product.
So some of it, at least, it's money being recycled
from illicit activities and tax evasion.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
So as we round the point, beautiful old honeycombstone to
our right, enormous cruise ship like a block of flats,
ugliest sin. And the reason they're here is because Malta
is a tourist paradise. But underneath these extraordinary beauty, in
(16:04):
this this heft of history, there are some dark, dark shadows.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
This is a place where.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
Dark power and dark money likes to hang out. And
if you try and tell truth to that dark money,
in that dark power, if you're a journalist, it can
be a very dangerous place.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Indeed.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
October twelfth, twenty seventeen, opposition leader's wife says convicted drug
dealer's girlfriend is one of my closest and most trusted friends.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So Manuel, what are we listening to?
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well, as with many things. To understand how we got here,
you need to go back a while, in this case
a decade ago to the mid twenty tens. Deers leading
up to Daphanie's death. Remember blogs.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Drug dealer's girlfriend says she and opposition leader's wife are
close friends in Malta.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
They never really went away like sisters. At that point,
I'd left politics and was working as a software salesman,
and like many people in Malta, I'd begin each day
by checking one politics blog, in particular a blog by
Dfhanie Karwana Galicia.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
In this case, the husband dislieve with asked the actors
Sienna Miller to read these extracts from Daphne's right.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Friend is a convicted lifelong drug dealer who was released
from jail a few months ago.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I remember that time in Britain, too Big dreams that
blogging could provide an alternative to newspapers and TV channels,
a place where you could get your political news a
bit more unfiltered.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Well, in Malta, Dafanie's blog wasn't just a blog for
political geeks. It was bigger than that. It made the news.
It's been often said, was read by more people each
day than any of Malta's newspapers. The newspapers did not
dispute that claim.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
A bill to bring Malta's anti money laundering legislation in.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Line with and here what's her secret? Defney's style wasn't
dry paper of record staff. It was chetty, sarcastic.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Are we supposed to laugh?
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Or what?
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Often? Angry? Sometimes gossipy, sometimes viciously personal at all?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
April fifteenth, twenty.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Sixteen, always gripping.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Malta is not a normal country, but a bizarre island,
crowded with peculiar people who are either completely mad, very dotty,
deeply stupid, totally malicious, or a combination of all.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Of those things.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Here is what I think that we have descended to
the pits of ineptitude, abuse of power, trading in influence, cronyism,
and corruption.
Speaker 7 (18:55):
I think it was quite anoveative. It was the narve.
Daphne's narrative was quite unique. She had a brilliant command
of the English language.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Herman Grek is editor in chief of the Times of Malta,
the country's actual paper of record, part of the journalistic establishment.
Speaker 7 (19:15):
And she was funny, and she was also brutal towards
you know people she didn't like. In the case of Daphnie,
was a one woman show, and she was out there
without an editor, and she could say whatever she wanted.
So that's what she presented.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
For most of my life. The big Motives newspapers like
Herman's have been considered mostly serious and formal, while TV
stations are the opposite, highly partisan, tabloid and openly backing
one political party or the other. However angry Daphne's blog
would be she could be trusted to have done her research,
and any attempts to intimidate Daphnie would also end up
(19:57):
in her blog.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
October fifth, twenty seventeen, ant Andrea Kuttayer, the owner of
an illegal zoo in which big cats have bred for
a lucrative market, has just wrung me to take issue
with the fact that I wrote about his illegal operation
earlier this afternoon. He did not ring to correct any
reported facts, but to object to being placed in the limelight.
Leave me alone and I'll.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Leave you alone.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
And she was fearless.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I am a very big millionaire, he said, do you
have any idea how much money I have? I don't
need to justify myself with anyone. Well, that's exactly the problem.
I said. You think that because you have lots of
money you can do what you please, that you are
more equal than others before the law, And unfortunately you're
being proved right on that.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
And that goes to the heart of Dapinice's philosophy. What
connected so many of her stories the feeling that those
with power and money in Morta had ceased to believe
that the law applies to them. One rule for them,
another for the rest of us. That multis society, the
court's political parties, the press, ordinary voters, all of us
(21:05):
were struggling to meet that onslaught.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Was she on the.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Money man, Well, well, yes, in my view, I'd say so,
it's how it feels living here. And Daphne's response to
that situation was simple. She wouldn't let them get away
with their lies, not the big lies or the small ones.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
But that can be dangerous for someone working on their own.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Yes, and because those with power and money and Malta
were so used to getting their way, definitely found that
they often didn't hide their lives all that.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Well, Daphnie didn't just use the freedom that her blog
gave her to fight corruption or take on the powerful.
Unlike in the newspaper, there was no editor looking over
Daphne's shoulder for a second opinion on what she was posting.
That meant less interference, but it also meant that anyone
(21:57):
could end up in her sights.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Some of those posts about ordinary people make for uncomfortable reading.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
I'm sure it's not just my imagination. When I look
at stills and films of Labor mass meetings, I think
that they looked just like a white trash convention. It's
almost incredible.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
The Labor Party was the party in government at that time.
The real DEFNI, or at least the face to face Deafni,
was very different from blogging Deafnie. Less confrontation and less caustic.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
How well did you know a man?
Speaker 4 (22:30):
Well?
Speaker 2 (22:31):
I knew her professionally, most as a small place, and
we both worked in media and politics, and we shared
some of the same fears and campaigns against corruption and
dirt to money in politics. She was already an inspiration
to me, and when she started breaking her really big stories,
the ones that alleged serious crimes committed by powerful men,
(22:52):
well then she was a hero to many people too.
Speaker 8 (22:59):
So I knew as a sister.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
This is Corin Vella, the younger sister of Daphne Carouana Galitzia.
Speaker 8 (23:05):
I only knew her sort of in a domestic environment,
and the domestic in the sense of family environment, that
of off duty kind of thing. The fact that she
was prolific in her writing didn't mean it was the
only thing she was doing. I mean, she did all
kinds of things. She traveled, she know, she had a
lovely home, she loved gardening, and she had a life
outside her journalistic work. But that's only because people knew
(23:28):
her through her work that they got the perception that
that is the only thing she is doing.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
It's one of the real risks of any kind of
high profile journalism. People will assume they know the real
you from what they read, whatch or listen to.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I mean, I do understand why people thought that she
was her journalism. She wrote so much that it was
hard to imagine how she had a life outside her writing.
There could be multiple updates in a single day, and
in a country as small as small town, there's really
no way to stay in on it. If you are
known and you go out in public, you will meet
people who know who you are and they may have
(24:06):
opinions about you that they want to share.
Speaker 8 (24:08):
I mean, it was a general sense of unease. But
it wasn't like you were actually going to tell her
to please stop doing this because you're making me nervous.
Because you don't do or don't do something because of
how someone else feels. That wouldn't be a reasonable request,
and it didn't seem right to expect someone to be
quiet because someone else couldn't tolerate their views.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
In her final few years, some politicians in particular became
favorite targets for Daphne's blog posts, and after her death,
these men would find themselves answering difficult questions, questions about
how definitely had damaged their public images and about how
they had responded how they had acted towards her.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
When we wrote a book together, it was clear that
these politicians were already part of this story, but we
didn't know the half of it, in terms of how
the politics set the backdrop for everything else that would
follow her. Perhaps the most importance of Daphne's targets was
the then Prime Minister of Malta himself, Joseph Muscat, in
(25:15):
office from twenty thirteen onwards.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Definitely had a lot to say about him, a lot
of it pretty strongly opinionated.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
May seventh, twenty twelve.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Joseph Muscat a bloody fraud.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Every seventh, twenty thirty.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Like all cult leaders and gang leaders, Joseph Muscat uses
decorative women to shore up his manhood and make himself
seem magnetic.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
Every thirteenth, twenty thirteen.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Did Joseph Muscat write his doctoral thesis?
Speaker 5 (25:39):
First?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Twenty thirteen Joseph Muscat Power Hungry Scott first twenty fifteen.
Joseph Muscat the quintessential demographic fourteenth, twenty sixteen. Joseph Muscat
the Donald Trump Factor.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
So she's not really a fan of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Is she?
Speaker 2 (26:00):
You could say?
Speaker 4 (26:00):
So?
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Men like the Prime Minister weren't just politicians to Deafni,
or even just allegedly corrupt politicians. For her, they represented
a whole new political culture threatening undermining our nation.
Speaker 9 (26:16):
Malta is great an economics.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
This campaign, added from twenty sixteen, is typical slick, mostly
in motives, but with matterings of English. Both languages are
widely spoken in the country, although English is seen as
the language of the more.
Speaker 9 (26:30):
Educated services, all industrial films.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Moscow is fresh faced here in his early forties. He's
been in power three years now, seeking re election. He's
reminding us of all the great things about our country,
including his government.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
It's clear he's going for the approachable, look, cheerful, quite
informal chachi.
Speaker 9 (26:51):
Nadiv tala and the laudesh if.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
But then he's also speaking to us in the lobby
of a grand government building, big staircase, flags everywhere. He's
projecting power, but with a human face.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
That grand building is castile our White House or Downing Street.
And yes that's the message. I am in power, but
I'm just also an ordinary guy. And I speak to
you in Maltese. But I can switch into English too
if I need.
Speaker 9 (27:20):
A little laussh. If you reach Malta is great. We
should just say it a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Of Another of his slogans was Malta tan Alcohol, meaning
Malta belongs to all of us, sort of a Maltese
version of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's We're taking back
control or President Donald Trump's make America great Again. Mouscat's
(27:50):
first government of twenty thirteen was supposed to be a
new start for this country. We had been used to
an older generation of leaders socially conservative courses, often perceived
to be an effective or corrupt. Joseph Musquin promised to
change all that, the modern progressive alternative government without a tie.
(28:13):
Even Harmon Gregg, the newspaper editor, was impressed by some
of it.
Speaker 7 (28:19):
Extremely charming, very popular, I would say, quite intelligence. He
came across in the beginning as a bit of a
revolutionizing his own party, you know, came across as a
very pro severe rights, very pro business, and he changed
alta dramatically.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Not charming in everyone's eyes.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Though.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Here's corn Defne's sister.
Speaker 8 (28:44):
I don't know what the word is, a lap start.
Let's say it's just really irritating personality.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
I see why this wouldn't wash with Daphnely.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
She gave a clear message to her readers, don't believe
the hype. Underneath the image management. She believed there was
a deeply cynical operator.
Speaker 7 (29:02):
She attacked him from the word goal. She she never
liked him. Everything basically about him, about his way of living,
about his politics, even his own you know, his family.
Speaker 8 (29:15):
We've been aware of him for a long time because
he was a propagandist for the party eventually led. He
ran the English language internet platform, terribly written, hopelessly misspelled,
you know, just trying to carry favor with the English
speaking half of the population.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
But however, Irriitating definitely had her family found Joseph mouscart
Many voters liked him back then.
Speaker 8 (29:39):
By then politics had become all about marketing. So it
was all about the branding, you know, the changing of
the color of the ties they wore, changing the party logo,
giving people catchy slogans, making themselves look hip and cool,
you know, making the governing party at the time the
girl and stuffy.
Speaker 7 (29:57):
He said that he's going to be Prime Minister for everybody.
He promised everybody that this would be a multa for all,
that the best is yet to come, you know, and
he did deliver on some of those premises. He was
very business friendly, and I would say quite a lot
(30:19):
of people became rich overnight.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
And so after twenty thirteen, any threat to the Joseph
Mouscant government could potentially prove extremely expensive to many people.
(30:48):
So flesh forward to a night in October twenty seventeen,
Joseph Moscant and his government have been in power now
for four years. Daphne's blog is at the height of
its power and fame, leading the fight against corruption of
politicians once again. The following is a dramatization. We've taken
(31:09):
evidence heard in the courtroom and reconstructed what happened according
to that testimony. We have dramatized the evidence and provided
color in places without changing any of the material facts
or allegations.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
On this night, in the field in the countryside to
the west of the Lessa, two men are silently practicing rehearsing,
making preparations for a job.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
One of them we've already met, Vincent de kov Moscat,
one of the contract killers in the stolen Toyota back
in Burkerkara. And next to him is another man who
is also definitely known to the police, Chinese George's younger brother,
Alfred Ilfulu, the Georgio Alfred, the Georgia Ilfulu. It means
(31:54):
the bean, so Alfred, the bean de Georgio. Let's just
say he's in the same line of business as his
older and vincenta.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Kof It's a warm style this evening, trying to minimize noise.
Vincent the cough and Alfred the Bean creep into their
hiding place in the brush on the side of a hill,
overlooking a wide, shallow valley. Out on the horizon, they
can just make out the coast the Mediterranean and inky blackness,
(32:24):
broken up by occasional lights from boats. But they aren't
here to enjoy the scenery. They need to stay hidden
at all times and leave no trace when they've gone.
They've already spent a while here, watching and waiting, noting
patterns of movement, getting through a lot of cigarettes with
(32:48):
the tension and the boredom bills.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Right now, Vincent Koff is purged on a couple of bricks,
looking through the telescope, relaying what he is to Alfred
de Bean Mushna. He's just noted that the target has
left the room nearest them. The house they're watching is
a traditional old matese farmhouse, the same elegant pale limestone
as the buildings of Valletta, surrounded by high walls and lush,
(33:17):
thickly planted gardens. Daphne's family home where she lives with
her husband and two of her adult sons. It's a beautiful,
peaceful spot.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
The garden wall is one of the family's few concessions
to security after years of threats and attacks due to
Daphne's writing. But from their position up on the hill,
the men can see down over the walls through the
windows into the home itself.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Daphanie and her husband Peter have lived here for decades,
raised their three sons here. As you'd expect in a
small place like Bidnia, everyone locally knows where the Karwana
Galizias live. Definitely sometimes writes her block posts from home,
so she is often in the house and at certain
times she walks past the farmhouse windows and into the
(34:09):
telescopes view.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Say that first the fun on our computer.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Right now, they can see her sitting on a sofa.
Daphaney has settled down to type on her laptop. She's relaxed, unaware.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Just on the side of Vincent Lecough there's a rifle
with a telescopic sight. They tested it a few days
ago in a field. It's only one of the weapons
they've been supplied with for the job. They're saving their
AK forty seven if they encounter any police roadblocks when
making a getaway. But above all, the sniper shot needs
(34:49):
accuracy to create a more stable shooting position. They've even
filled pillowcases with soil to act as sandbags.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
Jempilloo am.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Now Daphne is settled and visible. One of the men
uses a burner phone to text Chinese George, the designated
getaway driver. The message is simple, we are ready, she
is in position. Get here now, because by now the
group is under pressure to get this done. Those who
(35:24):
hire them have said that if they don't act soon,
something might get published that shouldn't get published. When Chinese
George does arrive, the plan is that he will park
close by, using a stolen vehicle as a getaway car,
just like in the Carmelkerkop murder. And like then they'll
also have a back up AK forty seven. At last,
(35:46):
it's all coming together and inside the house, as the
evening goes on, Daphne stays by the window, writing and
writing and writing.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
Offer the being a steady sus grip on the row
rifle and hugs the butt into his shoulder, preparing his
body to absorb the recoil.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
He alignes the bead and.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
The crook to ensure he has the perfect aim right
at Daphne working on her laptop. All they need now
is the signal from Chinese George, but the getaway car
is ready and waiting nearby.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
When that message comes, all it will take will be
a simple squeeze of the trigger that's next. At the
time of recording, criminal proceedings are ongoing against some of
(36:48):
the individuals accused of murdering definite Carvana Gazzia and other victims.
We will fill you in more about where the case
is as the serious progresses, but for now it s
a fy sister say George, George, Joe and j Mivella,
who you heard about earlier in the show, denied any
involvement in killing Daphne or Carmel ker Kopp. Crooks Everywhere
(37:12):
is a production of iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci.
It's reported and hosted by me Manuel Delia and John Sweeney.
The senior producer is Leo Hornack, The producer is Maddi Hickish.
Chris Dinesh Kumar is the assistant producer. The story editors
are Emma Federill, Matt Willis and Philippa Geering. The managing
(37:35):
producers are Thomas Curry and Rachel Byrne. The voice of
Dafnie Krwana Galizia is played by Ciena Miller, acting direction
by Christopher Houten. Maltese voices by Mikhail basma Jan and
Pierre staff Rach. The executive producers are Johnny Galvin and
Daniel Turken at Vespucci, Christi Gressman at Topic Studios, Katina
(37:57):
Norvel and Nikki Etoor at iHeart Podcas gusts Ancienna Miller
Marketing Leaders, David Wasserman. Audio recording by Tom Berry at
Wardoor Studios. Audio mix and sound design by Joel Cox.
Special thanks to Andrew Botchcardona, Alessandra di Crespo, Eddie Isles,
and Andrew Carwina Galicia
There are crooks everywhere you look. Now the situation is desperate.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
Eighth of October twenty fifteen, just before seven am a
sleepy Thursday morning, in the town of Birgerkara, in the
center of Motawn, tightly wound medieval streets, beautiful, pale yellow
limestone churches, all just beginning to catch the first rays
of the early morning Mediterranean sun. Inside the houses and
(00:41):
apartments here, most people are still asleep or just waking up.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
But here, on the top floor of an early empty
multi story garage on john Board Street, three men are
wide awake, crashing the seats of a stolen Toyota Parks
so they can watch the road down below.
Speaker 4 (01:04):
They wait.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
In this episode, we've taken evidence heard in the courtroom
and reconstructed what happened according to that testimony. We've dramatized
the evidence and provided color in places without changing any
of the material facts or allegations.
Speaker 5 (01:23):
Okay, JJ dot lest.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
In the driving seat is George de Georgia, around fifty
two years old, thinning hair, a little overweight, but an
intimidating presence. He's officially long term unemployed, but also able
somehow to support a remarkably luxurious lifestyle, luxury cars, including
a white Corvette, and his own fishing yacht. George is
(01:48):
well known to the police in his line of work.
Most people know him by his Multese street name of Itchinese,
the Chinese one. In the way of these names, the
origin is mysterious. Chinese George de Georgia is not from
an Asian family. He's one hundred percent Maltese and right now,
like the others in this toyota, he's kied up waiting
(02:10):
for the job to.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Begin in the back seats, watching the streets. The two men, allegedly.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
One of them is Vincent il Kochu Mouscat. His Maltese
nickname translates roughly to the sound made by someone coughing.
This recreation is based on his courtroom testimony about that morning.
Speaker 4 (02:31):
And after him then a list.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Like Chinese George, Vincent the Coff is middle aged with
decades of work behind him. He too has a reputation
with the police, and allegedly, alongside Vincent the Cuff in
the car is the final member of the team. Jamie Vella,
in his early thirties, the youngest of the three, also
known to the police. He's seen as knowledgeable about firearms.
(02:56):
By the other two. There's an AK forty seven, a
Russian the designed submachine gun, resting under deceit near him.
Jamie also allegedly has with him a revolver, his main weapon.
This morning, and on.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
This October morning, in twenty fifteen, in this busy channel
in Malta, these men in the car are a team,
even if you like a family.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
For now, and there is another thing that unites these
three their shared and bloody future, the reason we're telling
you this story. At least two of these men will
one day be the foot soldiers and the murder of
my country's most famous journalist, the assassination of a beloved wife, mother,
(03:40):
daughter and sister, and for me and many Maltese people
also an inspiration. The journalist's name is Deafnely Karwana Galitzia,
not Jane.
Speaker 4 (03:56):
Shane.
Speaker 3 (03:57):
But on this day in twenty fifteen, as these men
sit impatiently in a stolen car in an empty multi
story garage that is still a long way off, on
this morning, we will later be told in court they
are all still waiting for just one thing, the signal
(04:18):
to start their work. And then Vincent Lecough spots something.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Maltese for heads up. I can see him. He's coming
up the street. Some way off. A man in a
business suit is approaching, walking towards the entrance to the
garage Chinese George. George drives down through the almost deserted garage,
heading to street level. They don't have long They need
(04:51):
to be at the entrance before this man reaches the building.
Speaker 3 (04:55):
As George drives, Jimmy and Vincent allegedly pull on Balaclava's
it's good to look the part. They pull over to
a space on the ground floor with a view of
the entrance onto the street. It won't be long now.
Speaker 2 (05:14):
Along the walls of each floor are dozens of small,
lockablelee garages. You can rent one out for a small fee.
It's more private and secure than parking on the street,
but that also means that if you use one of
these garages regularly the same time every day, people can
guess where to find you.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
The street entrance opens, and the man in the suit
walks calmly in a leather bag in one hand, patting
his pockets with the other hand to find his keys.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Oblivious, the Toyota edges forward twenty meters away in the
back seat, Jamie allegedly lowers the window and takes the
safety off the revolver ten meters five meters.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
The man in the suit has his keys out now
and he's standing just in front of Garage number forty six,
close to the entrance. As he puts the key in
the lock, he turns his back to the Toyota for
a moment, pulling the shutter open with his.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Weight, and that's when the car passes right next to him,
close enough to the chiut untouched. The shots are a
most point blank, a whole clip.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
It's clear there's no need for a second pass. According
to Vincent Lakoff, Chinese George drives straight through the exit
into the back streets of Berkha Kara. They've rehearsed the
route to the safe house. Jamie in the back seat
stashes his weapon from here. It's just routine, planned for
(06:59):
the last it's what they do.
Speaker 2 (07:07):
The man in the suit's name is carmelker Kopp, a lawyer,
married thirty five years, in business with some dangerous people.
As is normal for this kind of crime in Malta,
no one will be convicted for his murder. As is
normal for this kind of crime in Malta, no one
will even be arrested. For years.
Speaker 3 (07:29):
No one is chasing these men now through Berkhakara, and
no one will. These men are free to kill again
and again until one day, two years later, when they
make the mistake of taking out Malta's most famous journalist.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
This is the story of how my home, a smaller
European democracy, a picture postcard tourist destination, came to be
a place where the criminals set the rules, where crime
and politics merge, a place where some people can literally
get away with murder. This is a story you might
have heard part of before, but it's only now, in
(08:09):
twenty twenty four, that we are coming close to the
full truth. From iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci, this
is Crooks Everywhere, Episode one, Drive by in Birkerkara. My
(08:36):
name is Manuel Delilla. I'm a former multist political operative
and government official, and I was inspired to become a
journalist by this story we will be telling in this podcast,
the brutal murder of deaf Nie Carwana Galicia in twenty seventeen.
Ever since her death, I've been one of the people
trying to discover not just who killed her, but who
(08:58):
ordered her killing and why and how they are connected
to some of the most powerful people in the country.
It's an incredible and terrifying story. This might sound grand,
but for me, whether we find justice for Dephni is
about the future of this whole nation, about the kind
of country my children will be living in. But to
(09:21):
tell this story, I knew I needed someone with the
experience to take on difficult and even dangerous stories. And
that's why I called up my friend and mentor, mister
John Sweeney.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Thank you very much, sir.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
Six years ago I didn't know John except from the TV,
but now he's an old friend. He's a former BBC
man and if you ask me, one of the best
investigative and war reporters in the world. And probably if
you ask him.
Speaker 3 (09:43):
To oh, leave it out, galv I'm only here to
make trouble for the wrong kind of people.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
John stuck up inconvenient truths on subjects as varied as scientology,
North Korea and the life of Gillame Maxwell. And for
years he's chronicled the corruption and crimes of Vladimir pu
sometimes on the front lines of Ukraine.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
When a journalist is murdered. It's not just a tragedy
for a family. It's an attempt to shut down what
we all do. Journalism is about trying to tell truth
about the world, to keep power and money in check,
to give a voice to the voiceless. The moment I
arrived in Malta after Daphne's murder, I sense this wasn't
(10:28):
just the snuffing out of one extraordinary woman. Someone was
trying to silence a whole country, to prevent it from
asking the wrong kind of questions. And for me, this
is a story that has lessons for every country where
power and money use crime to settle scores. I see
(10:52):
this story played out in varying degrees across the world,
in Russia, in America, in Britain. And that's why this
story matters whether you're Maltese or not. And for a
subject like this, you need an insider, someone who knows
the place, someone like Manuel.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
A few years ago, when my writing about corruption led
to me and my family receive incredible threats, I decided
to leave the country temporarily. When I was stuck a
long way from home, wondering if I was doing the
right thing. John was one of the friends who visited
me and became someone I could turn to. We've written
a book together about Defnie and Malta's recent history, along
(11:36):
with our co author, mafia expert Carlo Bonini. But a
lot has changed since that book came out five years ago.
Speaker 3 (11:42):
Although do please buy it. Murder on the Malta Express
is still available in all good bookshops.
Speaker 2 (11:50):
We now know a lot more about men like Chinese
George and Vincent, the cough and the men who were
accused of paying them. So what this Jack? I've invited
John back to my home country. You see, I'm proud
of this wonderful complex place. Hello John, Good morning morning.
(12:10):
We're in Touchbash, which is part of the Northern Harbor,
just north of Aleta, and we're going to the boat right,
that's for that.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
I've got my sea legs on.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Let's go meet.
Speaker 4 (12:20):
Ask. So what's this? What's the ship called again? A
gin Fizz? Gin Fizz. I'm already thinking of that gin
Fiz as we speak. All right, guys, you guys have
probably been on Boast before, but I still have to
go through the safety briefing by law.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
Can everybody swim?
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Yeah? Any medical issues I need to know.
Speaker 2 (12:47):
About a few facts to begin. Mota is the smallest
country in the European Union, a chain of islands in
the Mediterranean between Sicily and North Africa. Our whole country
is less than half the size of New York City
or London. It's also densely populated. There are half a
million people here and plenty of history. We speak our
(13:10):
own unique language derived from medieval Arabic eat footed that
might remind you of Italy. And we're ruled as a
British colony for one hundred and fifty years. And the
jewel of this nation, our beautiful capital city of Valletta,
is set in the majestic Grand Harbor. And you know what,
grand and majestic are no exaggerations. This view can turn
(13:33):
even a grizzled reporter like John to poverty.
Speaker 3 (13:36):
So we're passing into Grand Harbor, which is one of
the most beautiful in the world.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
And there's something.
Speaker 3 (13:43):
About the honeycomb stone of Malta and the construction it
was roughly the same time that constructed Venice of that
kind of era.
Speaker 4 (13:54):
It's extraordinary.
Speaker 2 (13:56):
Found years off.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
So Venice is when venices twelve hundred, Venice is all up,
you're about four hundred years off.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
I know nothing.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Look, this is a beautiful place, and I can see
why John thinks of Venice when he's sees it. In
one direction from the boat, you can see a skyline
jump built full of Renaissance churches, domes and forts, all
crisscrossed with waterways and inlets, ferries and sailing boats.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
There's a gown a little boat zooming along. Looks rather cool.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
But alongside the history there is also the other Malta here,
the new Malta of multi story concrete hotels and luxury
apartment blocks, crowding right up to the water, catering for
the new elite, and for some this is a playground.
Speaker 3 (14:44):
So the scale of the money here in boats is
an extraordinary umber passing one, two, three, four, five, six, seven,
eight nine, and not quite super yachts, but they're pretty
nice yachts.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Well, if I'm careful where to look, I still love
this place. This is my country. This bay is where
I was brought up. This is where I went to swim,
This is where I crossed the ferry to go to Valletta,
my first job. And I see on one side hasn't
changed much. And if you see photos from fifty or
one hundred years ago hasn't changed much. On the other side,
(15:20):
you blink and it's six stories higher.
Speaker 3 (15:23):
And this is rash of concrete. Acne is a symbol
of the dirty money that is besieging Malta.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Well you call it a symbol, John, it's actually a product.
So some of it, at least, it's money being recycled
from illicit activities and tax evasion.
Speaker 3 (15:44):
So as we round the point, beautiful old honeycombstone to
our right, enormous cruise ship like a block of flats,
ugliest sin. And the reason they're here is because Malta
is a tourist paradise. But underneath these extraordinary beauty, in
(16:04):
this this heft of history, there are some dark, dark shadows.
Speaker 4 (16:10):
This is a place where.
Speaker 6 (16:13):
Dark power and dark money likes to hang out. And
if you try and tell truth to that dark money,
in that dark power, if you're a journalist, it can
be a very dangerous place.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Indeed.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
October twelfth, twenty seventeen, opposition leader's wife says convicted drug
dealer's girlfriend is one of my closest and most trusted friends.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So Manuel, what are we listening to?
Speaker 2 (16:54):
Well, as with many things. To understand how we got here,
you need to go back a while, in this case
a decade ago to the mid twenty tens. Deers leading
up to Daphanie's death. Remember blogs.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Drug dealer's girlfriend says she and opposition leader's wife are
close friends in Malta.
Speaker 2 (17:12):
They never really went away like sisters. At that point,
I'd left politics and was working as a software salesman,
and like many people in Malta, I'd begin each day
by checking one politics blog, in particular a blog by
Dfhanie Karwana Galicia.
Speaker 3 (17:26):
In this case, the husband dislieve with asked the actors
Sienna Miller to read these extracts from Daphne's right.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
Friend is a convicted lifelong drug dealer who was released
from jail a few months ago.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
I remember that time in Britain, too Big dreams that
blogging could provide an alternative to newspapers and TV channels,
a place where you could get your political news a
bit more unfiltered.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Well, in Malta, Dafanie's blog wasn't just a blog for
political geeks. It was bigger than that. It made the news.
It's been often said, was read by more people each
day than any of Malta's newspapers. The newspapers did not
dispute that claim.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
A bill to bring Malta's anti money laundering legislation in.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
Line with and here what's her secret? Defney's style wasn't
dry paper of record staff. It was chetty, sarcastic.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Are we supposed to laugh?
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Or what?
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Often? Angry? Sometimes gossipy, sometimes viciously personal at all?
Speaker 1 (18:24):
April fifteenth, twenty.
Speaker 2 (18:25):
Sixteen, always gripping.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
Malta is not a normal country, but a bizarre island,
crowded with peculiar people who are either completely mad, very dotty,
deeply stupid, totally malicious, or a combination of all.
Speaker 5 (18:39):
Of those things.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
Here is what I think that we have descended to
the pits of ineptitude, abuse of power, trading in influence, cronyism,
and corruption.
Speaker 7 (18:55):
I think it was quite anoveative. It was the narve.
Daphne's narrative was quite unique. She had a brilliant command
of the English language.
Speaker 2 (19:07):
Herman Grek is editor in chief of the Times of Malta,
the country's actual paper of record, part of the journalistic establishment.
Speaker 7 (19:15):
And she was funny, and she was also brutal towards
you know people she didn't like. In the case of Daphnie,
was a one woman show, and she was out there
without an editor, and she could say whatever she wanted.
So that's what she presented.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
For most of my life. The big Motives newspapers like
Herman's have been considered mostly serious and formal, while TV
stations are the opposite, highly partisan, tabloid and openly backing
one political party or the other. However angry Daphne's blog
would be she could be trusted to have done her research,
and any attempts to intimidate Daphnie would also end up
(19:57):
in her blog.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
October fifth, twenty seventeen, ant Andrea Kuttayer, the owner of
an illegal zoo in which big cats have bred for
a lucrative market, has just wrung me to take issue
with the fact that I wrote about his illegal operation
earlier this afternoon. He did not ring to correct any
reported facts, but to object to being placed in the limelight.
Leave me alone and I'll.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Leave you alone.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
And she was fearless.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
I am a very big millionaire, he said, do you
have any idea how much money I have? I don't
need to justify myself with anyone. Well, that's exactly the problem.
I said. You think that because you have lots of
money you can do what you please, that you are
more equal than others before the law, And unfortunately you're
being proved right on that.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
And that goes to the heart of Dapinice's philosophy. What
connected so many of her stories the feeling that those
with power and money in Morta had ceased to believe
that the law applies to them. One rule for them,
another for the rest of us. That multis society, the
court's political parties, the press, ordinary voters, all of us
(21:05):
were struggling to meet that onslaught.
Speaker 4 (21:08):
Was she on the.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Money man, Well, well, yes, in my view, I'd say so,
it's how it feels living here. And Daphne's response to
that situation was simple. She wouldn't let them get away
with their lies, not the big lies or the small ones.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
But that can be dangerous for someone working on their own.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
Yes, and because those with power and money and Malta
were so used to getting their way, definitely found that
they often didn't hide their lives all that.
Speaker 3 (21:34):
Well, Daphnie didn't just use the freedom that her blog
gave her to fight corruption or take on the powerful.
Unlike in the newspaper, there was no editor looking over
Daphne's shoulder for a second opinion on what she was posting.
That meant less interference, but it also meant that anyone
(21:57):
could end up in her sights.
Speaker 2 (22:01):
Some of those posts about ordinary people make for uncomfortable reading.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
I'm sure it's not just my imagination. When I look
at stills and films of Labor mass meetings, I think
that they looked just like a white trash convention. It's
almost incredible.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
The Labor Party was the party in government at that time.
The real DEFNI, or at least the face to face Deafni,
was very different from blogging Deafnie. Less confrontation and less caustic.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
How well did you know a man?
Speaker 4 (22:30):
Well?
Speaker 2 (22:31):
I knew her professionally, most as a small place, and
we both worked in media and politics, and we shared
some of the same fears and campaigns against corruption and
dirt to money in politics. She was already an inspiration
to me, and when she started breaking her really big stories,
the ones that alleged serious crimes committed by powerful men,
(22:52):
well then she was a hero to many people too.
Speaker 8 (22:59):
So I knew as a sister.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
This is Corin Vella, the younger sister of Daphne Carouana Galitzia.
Speaker 8 (23:05):
I only knew her sort of in a domestic environment,
and the domestic in the sense of family environment, that
of off duty kind of thing. The fact that she
was prolific in her writing didn't mean it was the
only thing she was doing. I mean, she did all
kinds of things. She traveled, she know, she had a
lovely home, she loved gardening, and she had a life
outside her journalistic work. But that's only because people knew
(23:28):
her through her work that they got the perception that
that is the only thing she is doing.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
It's one of the real risks of any kind of
high profile journalism. People will assume they know the real
you from what they read, whatch or listen to.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
I mean, I do understand why people thought that she
was her journalism. She wrote so much that it was
hard to imagine how she had a life outside her writing.
There could be multiple updates in a single day, and
in a country as small as small town, there's really
no way to stay in on it. If you are
known and you go out in public, you will meet
people who know who you are and they may have
(24:06):
opinions about you that they want to share.
Speaker 8 (24:08):
I mean, it was a general sense of unease. But
it wasn't like you were actually going to tell her
to please stop doing this because you're making me nervous.
Because you don't do or don't do something because of
how someone else feels. That wouldn't be a reasonable request,
and it didn't seem right to expect someone to be
quiet because someone else couldn't tolerate their views.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
In her final few years, some politicians in particular became
favorite targets for Daphne's blog posts, and after her death,
these men would find themselves answering difficult questions, questions about
how definitely had damaged their public images and about how
they had responded how they had acted towards her.
Speaker 3 (24:51):
When we wrote a book together, it was clear that
these politicians were already part of this story, but we
didn't know the half of it, in terms of how
the politics set the backdrop for everything else that would
follow her. Perhaps the most importance of Daphne's targets was
the then Prime Minister of Malta himself, Joseph Muscat, in
(25:15):
office from twenty thirteen onwards.
Speaker 2 (25:19):
Definitely had a lot to say about him, a lot
of it pretty strongly opinionated.
Speaker 5 (25:24):
May seventh, twenty twelve.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Joseph Muscat a bloody fraud.
Speaker 5 (25:28):
Every seventh, twenty thirty.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Like all cult leaders and gang leaders, Joseph Muscat uses
decorative women to shore up his manhood and make himself
seem magnetic.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
Every thirteenth, twenty thirteen.
Speaker 1 (25:37):
Did Joseph Muscat write his doctoral thesis?
Speaker 5 (25:39):
First?
Speaker 1 (25:40):
Twenty thirteen Joseph Muscat Power Hungry Scott first twenty fifteen.
Joseph Muscat the quintessential demographic fourteenth, twenty sixteen. Joseph Muscat
the Donald Trump Factor.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
So she's not really a fan of Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Is she?
Speaker 2 (26:00):
You could say?
Speaker 4 (26:00):
So?
Speaker 2 (26:03):
Men like the Prime Minister weren't just politicians to Deafni,
or even just allegedly corrupt politicians. For her, they represented
a whole new political culture threatening undermining our nation.
Speaker 9 (26:16):
Malta is great an economics.
Speaker 2 (26:19):
This campaign, added from twenty sixteen, is typical slick, mostly
in motives, but with matterings of English. Both languages are
widely spoken in the country, although English is seen as
the language of the more.
Speaker 9 (26:30):
Educated services, all industrial films.
Speaker 2 (26:33):
Moscow is fresh faced here in his early forties. He's
been in power three years now, seeking re election. He's
reminding us of all the great things about our country,
including his government.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
It's clear he's going for the approachable, look, cheerful, quite
informal chachi.
Speaker 9 (26:51):
Nadiv tala and the laudesh if.
Speaker 3 (26:55):
But then he's also speaking to us in the lobby
of a grand government building, big staircase, flags everywhere. He's
projecting power, but with a human face.
Speaker 2 (27:07):
That grand building is castile our White House or Downing Street.
And yes that's the message. I am in power, but
I'm just also an ordinary guy. And I speak to
you in Maltese. But I can switch into English too
if I need.
Speaker 9 (27:20):
A little laussh. If you reach Malta is great. We
should just say it a little bit more.
Speaker 2 (27:27):
Of Another of his slogans was Malta tan Alcohol, meaning
Malta belongs to all of us, sort of a Maltese
version of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's We're taking back
control or President Donald Trump's make America great Again. Mouscat's
(27:50):
first government of twenty thirteen was supposed to be a
new start for this country. We had been used to
an older generation of leaders socially conservative courses, often perceived
to be an effective or corrupt. Joseph Musquin promised to
change all that, the modern progressive alternative government without a tie.
(28:13):
Even Harmon Gregg, the newspaper editor, was impressed by some
of it.
Speaker 7 (28:19):
Extremely charming, very popular, I would say, quite intelligence. He
came across in the beginning as a bit of a
revolutionizing his own party, you know, came across as a
very pro severe rights, very pro business, and he changed
alta dramatically.
Speaker 2 (28:39):
Not charming in everyone's eyes.
Speaker 4 (28:41):
Though.
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Here's corn Defne's sister.
Speaker 8 (28:44):
I don't know what the word is, a lap start.
Let's say it's just really irritating personality.
Speaker 3 (28:50):
I see why this wouldn't wash with Daphnely.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
She gave a clear message to her readers, don't believe
the hype. Underneath the image management. She believed there was
a deeply cynical operator.
Speaker 7 (29:02):
She attacked him from the word goal. She she never
liked him. Everything basically about him, about his way of living,
about his politics, even his own you know, his family.
Speaker 8 (29:15):
We've been aware of him for a long time because
he was a propagandist for the party eventually led. He
ran the English language internet platform, terribly written, hopelessly misspelled,
you know, just trying to carry favor with the English
speaking half of the population.
Speaker 2 (29:33):
But however, Irriitating definitely had her family found Joseph mouscart
Many voters liked him back then.
Speaker 8 (29:39):
By then politics had become all about marketing. So it
was all about the branding, you know, the changing of
the color of the ties they wore, changing the party logo,
giving people catchy slogans, making themselves look hip and cool,
you know, making the governing party at the time the
girl and stuffy.
Speaker 7 (29:57):
He said that he's going to be Prime Minister for everybody.
He promised everybody that this would be a multa for all,
that the best is yet to come, you know, and
he did deliver on some of those premises. He was
very business friendly, and I would say quite a lot
(30:19):
of people became rich overnight.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
And so after twenty thirteen, any threat to the Joseph
Mouscant government could potentially prove extremely expensive to many people.
(30:48):
So flesh forward to a night in October twenty seventeen,
Joseph Moscant and his government have been in power now
for four years. Daphne's blog is at the height of
its power and fame, leading the fight against corruption of
politicians once again. The following is a dramatization. We've taken
(31:09):
evidence heard in the courtroom and reconstructed what happened according
to that testimony. We have dramatized the evidence and provided
color in places without changing any of the material facts
or allegations.
Speaker 3 (31:22):
On this night, in the field in the countryside to
the west of the Lessa, two men are silently practicing rehearsing,
making preparations for a job.
Speaker 2 (31:32):
One of them we've already met, Vincent de kov Moscat,
one of the contract killers in the stolen Toyota back
in Burkerkara. And next to him is another man who
is also definitely known to the police, Chinese George's younger brother,
Alfred Ilfulu, the Georgio Alfred, the Georgia Ilfulu. It means
(31:54):
the bean, so Alfred, the bean de Georgio. Let's just
say he's in the same line of business as his
older and vincenta.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Kof It's a warm style this evening, trying to minimize noise.
Vincent the cough and Alfred the Bean creep into their
hiding place in the brush on the side of a hill,
overlooking a wide, shallow valley. Out on the horizon, they
can just make out the coast the Mediterranean and inky blackness,
(32:24):
broken up by occasional lights from boats. But they aren't
here to enjoy the scenery. They need to stay hidden
at all times and leave no trace when they've gone.
They've already spent a while here, watching and waiting, noting
patterns of movement, getting through a lot of cigarettes with
(32:48):
the tension and the boredom bills.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Right now, Vincent Koff is purged on a couple of bricks,
looking through the telescope, relaying what he is to Alfred
de Bean Mushna. He's just noted that the target has
left the room nearest them. The house they're watching is
a traditional old matese farmhouse, the same elegant pale limestone
as the buildings of Valletta, surrounded by high walls and lush,
(33:17):
thickly planted gardens. Daphne's family home where she lives with
her husband and two of her adult sons. It's a beautiful,
peaceful spot.
Speaker 3 (33:31):
The garden wall is one of the family's few concessions
to security after years of threats and attacks due to
Daphne's writing. But from their position up on the hill,
the men can see down over the walls through the
windows into the home itself.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Daphanie and her husband Peter have lived here for decades,
raised their three sons here. As you'd expect in a
small place like Bidnia, everyone locally knows where the Karwana
Galizias live. Definitely sometimes writes her block posts from home,
so she is often in the house and at certain
times she walks past the farmhouse windows and into the
(34:09):
telescopes view.
Speaker 4 (34:11):
Say that first the fun on our computer.
Speaker 2 (34:15):
Right now, they can see her sitting on a sofa.
Daphaney has settled down to type on her laptop. She's relaxed, unaware.
Speaker 3 (34:27):
Just on the side of Vincent Lecough there's a rifle
with a telescopic sight. They tested it a few days
ago in a field. It's only one of the weapons
they've been supplied with for the job. They're saving their
AK forty seven if they encounter any police roadblocks when
making a getaway. But above all, the sniper shot needs
(34:49):
accuracy to create a more stable shooting position. They've even
filled pillowcases with soil to act as sandbags.
Speaker 4 (35:00):
Jempilloo am.
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Now Daphne is settled and visible. One of the men
uses a burner phone to text Chinese George, the designated
getaway driver. The message is simple, we are ready, she
is in position. Get here now, because by now the
group is under pressure to get this done. Those who
(35:24):
hire them have said that if they don't act soon,
something might get published that shouldn't get published. When Chinese
George does arrive, the plan is that he will park
close by, using a stolen vehicle as a getaway car,
just like in the Carmelkerkop murder. And like then they'll
also have a back up AK forty seven. At last,
(35:46):
it's all coming together and inside the house, as the
evening goes on, Daphne stays by the window, writing and
writing and writing.
Speaker 3 (35:57):
Offer the being a steady sus grip on the row
rifle and hugs the butt into his shoulder, preparing his
body to absorb the recoil.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
He alignes the bead and.
Speaker 3 (36:08):
The crook to ensure he has the perfect aim right
at Daphne working on her laptop. All they need now
is the signal from Chinese George, but the getaway car
is ready and waiting nearby.
Speaker 2 (36:27):
When that message comes, all it will take will be
a simple squeeze of the trigger that's next. At the
time of recording, criminal proceedings are ongoing against some of
(36:48):
the individuals accused of murdering definite Carvana Gazzia and other victims.
We will fill you in more about where the case
is as the serious progresses, but for now it s
a fy sister say George, George, Joe and j Mivella,
who you heard about earlier in the show, denied any
involvement in killing Daphne or Carmel ker Kopp. Crooks Everywhere
(37:12):
is a production of iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci.
It's reported and hosted by me Manuel Delia and John Sweeney.
The senior producer is Leo Hornack, The producer is Maddi Hickish.
Chris Dinesh Kumar is the assistant producer. The story editors
are Emma Federill, Matt Willis and Philippa Geering. The managing
(37:35):
producers are Thomas Curry and Rachel Byrne. The voice of
Dafnie Krwana Galizia is played by Ciena Miller, acting direction
by Christopher Houten. Maltese voices by Mikhail basma Jan and
Pierre staff Rach. The executive producers are Johnny Galvin and
Daniel Turken at Vespucci, Christi Gressman at Topic Studios, Katina
(37:57):
Norvel and Nikki Etoor at iHeart Podcas gusts Ancienna Miller
Marketing Leaders, David Wasserman. Audio recording by Tom Berry at
Wardoor Studios. Audio mix and sound design by Joel Cox.
Special thanks to Andrew Botchcardona, Alessandra di Crespo, Eddie Isles,
and Andrew Carwina Galicia
Hosts And Creators
Manuel Delia
John Sweeney
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