October 9, 2024 • 29 mins
Daphne’s family lawyer notices suspicious behavior at the courts in the aftermath of her death. Meanwhile, outraged citizens march on the city as it becomes clear the assassins grossly underestimated the impact of their latest job.
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.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Malta is not a real democracy. People in general do
not understand what democracy is, but think it is a
vote in a general election or a referendum. They fail
to understand that for democracy to exist, freedom of expression
must come first.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
A warm October evening in the letter History written in Stone,
it's only a few days after Daphne's murder by car bomb.
Night is falling, and amongst the palaces and churches, the tourists, bars,
buskers and ice cream vendors, some exchange is happening.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
A crowd is gathering, hundreds, then thousands of people from
across our country, spontaneously drawn to mark their sorrow at
what has happened in the last week, young old city
dwellers and people from the villages. Many carry flowers or candles.
Some sing as they walk, most are silent, all united
(01:07):
by their shock at what has happened, also united by
anger at the forces that persecuted Daphne and ultimately many
believe killed her. From iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci,
I'm Manuel Delilla and this is Crooks Everywhere, Episode three,
(01:31):
The Great Siege, Spontaneous demonstrations are in something that Multa
really does Normally we only come out onto the streets
to celebrate a football win, or the night of a
major election, or a religious festival. But huge protests like
(01:53):
this for Dafne are a signal that the era of
quiet public acceptance is now over, maybe forever. And the
place where disgrieving, angry crowd is marching to is not
just any piazza in Valletta. The monumental, assidual guir or
great siege monument is our Lincoln Memorial, our Travalgar Square,
(02:14):
the symbolic heart of the capital. It commemorates the Great
Siege of fifteen sixty five, when the Ottoman Empire tried
and failed to conquer this land, a marker of the
greatest crisis that Mota faes in the last five hundred years,
a time when forces of destruction threatened and were resisted.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
As the crowd reaches the statues, they throng around, circling them,
filling the space. People begin laying candles on the ground,
the flickering light from so many candles illuminating the foundations
of the old stone. People bring photos of Daphne and
lay them down to other Scribbled personal notes of remembrance
(02:55):
on cards and tape them to the monument.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
And I'm here too with my friends and family, amazed
at how many people have turned out today. By reclaiming
this holy space and making it our space, Deafhne's space,
we are hoping to show that a new siege has begun,
that we are once again under threat as a nation.
Protests like this are the first signs that Deafney will
(03:19):
be even more influential after her murder than she had
been before it.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Do you remember when you first heard that Daphne had
been murdered? Manwhell I do?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
And of course the first reaction is incredulity, disbelief. But
after the horror began to sink in and I realized
that it must be true, there was another realization. I
knew that this would be a turning point for the
whole country, and very possibly a turning point away from democracy.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I was in London at the offices of BBC's Newsnight,
where I was working at the time. When the news broke.
There was a kind of silence in the office, a
sense that the life of a great reporter had been
snuffed out. And then the editor of the day says,
get yourself to Malta now and I move, but I
(04:12):
felt a sense of foreboding. I'm used to going to
bad places, but a journalist being blown up in Malta
it's where people go on holiday, for heaven's sake. I
spent many years reporting on Vladimir Putin's Russia, and for
me that seemed like the nearest comparison in terms of
(04:33):
the shamelessness of the crime, And just like a Kremlin killing,
it was both a murder, the wiping out of an
opponent and a warning to others. Using a car bomb
in broad daylight on a public road to silence a
reporter is a statement. It's a declaration of power. We
(04:55):
can get away with anything.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I had time to think. That's how it felt for
me too, But this was in Moscow or Saint Petersburg.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
It was a democratic EU country. I, like many other people,
still remember where I was and what I was doing.
No matter how much time passes, you do remember.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
This is Jason ot So Party, a lawyer and former
politician and an important player on what happens after Daphanie's death.
He is a former MP for Molta's main opposition party,
the Nationalists, and also one of Daphanie's most famous allies
inside Parliament, known as a big campaigner against the government.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Corruption picture a multi's version of the actor Stanley Tucci.
Heavily framed, glasses, bald head with an intense, subsessive interest
in corruption and might call a crime. You can see
why Jason makes a good lawyer. He has a necessary
forensic memory for detail and the details of the day
Daphney died, as something he has no difficulty recalling.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
So about five and that's passed. Three in the afternoon,
I started getting a floody of phone calls and I
remember the first one was a police officer. His voice
was crackling with emotion and he was crying and he
was telling me in bits and pieces they've killed her,
(06:23):
They've killed her, murdered. Whilst I was on this call,
at the same time, I had a number of other
people trying to get through to me. I was shaking,
I remember, vividly shaking. It was a mixture of anger
and fear.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
And later that day, as the full scope of the
crime became clear, another phone call came through from Daphney's husband, Peter, and.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Just imagine the husband of Deafney calling me on my
mobile at the same time. You know what's happening all
around you, and I froze. I admit I froze. I
didn't know what to say. I simply stammered. Bottom line,
(07:13):
Peter asked me if I could represent the family represent legally.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Already, within hours of her death, Peter and her sons
were aware of the unequal battle they would be fighting
to get justice. As we know, definitely had powerful enemies,
and even those not directly involved in her death had
incentives to assist in raising her legacy. In other words,
Peter already fears the official channels won't deliver justice.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Peter told me, Jason, we do not trust the due
to the magistrate to contact an impartial, independent, objective, unbiased inquiry,
and the very first few minutes hours are pretty critical
in such a crime.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
So what's wrong with the duty magistrate In Malta?
Speaker 3 (08:06):
The magistrate is crucial of a murder is to be
correctly and professionally investigated. In the multi system, there is
always a magistrate on duty, a senior legal official whose
job it is to take charge of and preserve evidence
when a serious crime is committed. It's a matter of
timing that determines which magistrate will be assigned to which case.
Definitely had written about a lot of Malta's judges and
(08:27):
lawyers during her career, and that day's magistrate, Consuelorea, had
come up a lot in defnine work, and as usual,
it was strongly.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Opinionated April thirteenth, twenty ten the silly life and shallow
values of Consuelo Hera October eighteenth, twenty ten. It's official
magistrate Herera is not to be trusted in a twelfth,
twenty eleven, giving Consuelo Herrera and her Keystone cops a
run for their money.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Not very diplomatic, and those are some of the more
polite things that Definitely wrote about the magist.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Really.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
In fact, Consul Herrera had already sued Daphnely for libel,
although she ultimately withdrew the claim. But on the day
that Daphne died, it was Consuelo Herrera who was assigned
to secure the murder scene, appoint court experts, and take
charge of the evidence.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
So this is Jason as the party's first task. From
Peter Carouina, Galicia and Daphne's sons get Magistrate Cherry Herrera
of the case. Before any legs go cold, and while
the evidence is still there to be gathered, get her
off the case, whatever it takes.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
I would say, round about eight o'clock, half past eight
in the evening. I meet them in the lobby and
the entrance.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
The very same evening as Daphnie's murder. The magistrate summons
the family to the courthouse. The fight to have the
magistrate replaced has already begun.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
One has to remember that the law courts at that
moment were practically deserted, completely dark, because of course it's
after office hours, so it's completely surreal, silent and aching
to a symmetry.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
At this after hours meeting at the law courts are
Jason as party and from the family Daphne's sister Colin,
Daphne's husband Peter, and Matthew, Dafnie's eldest son, the son
who was the first on the scene when Defne was killed.
It's still just hours since Daphanie's murder. Even to get
to the courthouse, the family had to drive right past
the bomb site near their house.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
And again I must admit I didn't know what to say.
I see these two gentlemen in front of me. One
has just seen five hours before his mother being butchered
in front of his eyes, and so I hugged Peter
(11:03):
and Matthew couldn't utter a word, but I do remember
saying to myself feeling a sense of sincere big admiration,
And they were there, standing upright, very stoic, loucid.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
The magistrate's office is open out of hours because of
Daphnie's death. As they wait to be called, they can
see senior government officials and politicians being called in for
meetings with the magistrate, but Daphne's closest relatives, they are
made to wait in the lobby.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
And then as they wait, yet a number of Daphane's
old enemies arrives.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
And at one point we see the then Economy Minister
Chris Cardona entering the law courts because he had been
summoned to testify by the inquiring magistrate.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
It's fair to say that Jason at Soparadi is not
a fan of mister Cardona.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Chris Cardona sleazy character well known in criminal circus.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Daphne's investigations into Cardona's conduct are famous across the island,
and her stories about him have already damaged his future
as a major player in multice politics at this point,
Cardona is one of the many people who was suing
Deafne for libel.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
He was pacing up and down the corridor. I remember
it vividly. He was very, very nervous, very nervous.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
What's the story behind the story here? Why is a
cabinet minister present at a murder inquiry and why is
he so nervous.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Earlier that evening, Cardona had been officially as summoned by
the authorities investigating Daphne's murder. He was not arrested and
left soon after. He has since said in an interview
with the Times of Malta that given his hit history
of clashes with Daphne, it was common sense to call
him in. Chris Cardona did not respond to requests for
an interview for this podcast, and he has consistently denied
(13:11):
being involved in Daphne's murder in any way. But on
this night in twenty seventeen, Jason Natza, party and Daphne's
family were still focused on trying to see if a
different magistrate could be chosen.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
We waited until close to eleven pm. By that time
there had been no core degree and I was starting
to become extremely angry because there were two people who,
instead of mourning their loved one who had been assassinated
some hours before, they were there all alone in the
(13:48):
dark entrance, silent, complete silence of the law cords. So
I knocked on the door of the sitting magistrate, of
the duty magistrate, and thusked her deputy registrar, if she
could kindly be so kind as to us, the inquiring magistrate,
to have some mercy and the decency for these two
(14:09):
gentlemen to be allowed to go home. She came back
to me and told me that we could leave and
the decision would be delivered on the following day.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
And why is this so important to Jason as a
party and Dafnie's family.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
From uther party's viewpoint, it sets the tone. It's like
the magistrate is telling the family, come to us while
you are grieving, and then you can wait, even as
the Maltese public is reeling in shock, even as daphnie
enemies are called in first to be briefed or give statements.
You the family can wait. But yes, there is a
(14:50):
small success. The next day, a different magistrate is chosen.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
I am still sad and upset. That so much time
had elapsed, and especially the emotional toll on the family,
And how.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Did the single most important politician on Malta who featured
in Daphanese journalism react to her murder. Here is Joseph
muskat the then Prime Minister.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
We will leave no stone unturned.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
In the video you can see him doing his best
portraying concern, righteous indignation, His body language result the kind
of political performance that definitely used merciless. But he also
makes it clear that Daphne's murder is a law enforcement question,
not a political crisis, and that his government does not
(15:44):
have a case to answer in Daphanes's death.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
There is one concrete proposal from the government, the promise
of a one million euro reward about a million dollars
for information leading to the arrest of the killers. Daphne's
family are invited to endorse this offer, but the decline.
The family believe that if they go along with the
reward that might be used against them, that it might
(16:07):
be used to claim that the family trust Prime Minister
Joseph Muskett's plan to find their mother's killers, and at
this stage the family feel far from confidence in his
abilities or his willingness to solve the murder. After the
family refused to participate in the reward scheme, it seems
to be quietly forgotten. To date, no one has ever
(16:29):
claimed or received any of the reward money.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
What I can tell you is that announcement that supposedly
incentive was given very little prominence by the government's channels.
It was literally left by the side. I doubt whether
it was mentioned ever again. If I remember correct, it
(16:54):
was only mentioned once. Definitely not more than twice.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
The government continue to make a public show of taking
Daphne's murder seriously while trying to get the news agenda
back to other topics. But despite their efforts, the crisis
management isn't working. This isn't going to be just a
passing news event. The anger around Daphne's death is building,
not fading.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Protests in Daphne's memory at the Great Siege Monument become
a regular ritual. An international concern about freedom of the
press in Malta also grows.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
At the start of November, two weeks after her death,
eight of the world's largest news organizations right to the
Vice President of the European Commission, urging him to investigate
her murder and the independence of the media in Malta.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Politicians like Joseph Muscat and Chris Cardona need to be
seen to be mourning the woman that had previously called
a liar and a gossip, who they had previously seen
sued for libel.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
And all comes to a head on the third of November.
At Daphne's funeral, more than a thousand people gather to
pay their final respects to Daphanie at the Rotunda perish
Church in the town of Mosta. Flags are fown at
half mast on government buildings and law courts across the country.
The family refused to let Senia government figures, including the
Prime Minister. At ten during the ceremony, Daphne's son Matthew
(18:34):
suddenly rips a wreath that has been left as a
tribute to his mother. He furiously throws it to one side.
He has realized the wreath is a gift from Morta
speaker of the House of Parliament, angelofar Ruja, the very
same man who was Daphne's arresting officer when she was nineteen.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
And at that moment, as Matthew tears the reef apart,
it's clear that there is no chance of reconciliation between
Daphne's grieving family Multi's political establishment.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
But all this public anger and sorrow isn't yet being
channeled into finding who actually killed Dafni Arwana Galizia, or
to discovering whether any of Malta's political leaders played any
role in her murder.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
We do know that the assassins, the men on the
ground who planted and detonated the bomb that killed her,
are following a careful routine at this point.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Right after the assassination, Chinese George disposed of his Berner
phone in the way he had on previous occasions, by
throwing it into the harbor water next to the so
called Potato shed, the warehouse that the gang used to
hang out in. The shed functions like their office, equipped
with armchairs, a fridge, and the guard dog. It's where
(19:51):
people go when they want to ask the gang for
help with a problem. And we know that Chinese George
threw his Berner phone into the harbor by the shed
because it turns out to do w There isn't deb deep,
not too deep for a diverse to surget.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
We also know that the killers are shocked just how
big the political backlash to the murder. The murder they'd
committed is murders like the Carmel Kirkop drive by shooting
never made it to the international press and quickly faded
from view even in Malta. After those murders there were
no public protests, still less a funeral on the telly.
(20:28):
There are good reasons to be optimistic at this point
about smoking out the assassins. A car bomb triggered by
a mobile phone leaves a loss of forensic evidence, and
with such a professionally organized killing, the number of possible
culprits in Malta is limited.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
That there's just the purely investigative forensic sidle, the politics
of solving serious crimes and more that are a little
more complex than that, As we're heard in the case
of the drive by murder of carmelker Cop. Professional contract
killings don't get carefully investigated in Malta, if they get
investigated at all. If anyone is punished for a contract killing,
(21:07):
it will be within the criminal fraternity tit for tat.
So the family are not optimistic about finding Daphnese assassins,
let alone discovering whoever ordered the bombing, but Here's where
daphnis family and supporters experience a piece of good luck.
It happens that the head of Malta's counter terrorism unit
is more diligent than some of his colleagues, and he
(21:29):
has a powerful context book. This is Jason, not so pridy.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
He had immediately after Daphnie's assassination, immediately took the initiative
to contact his US counterparts in Rome, and thanks to
the very close working relationship he had with them, the
balls were set in motion for the FBI guys to come.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Over, including international andrism experts. It happens that an FBI
anti terrorism team is in Rome for a training exercise
and they arrive in Malta within twenty four hours of
Dafney's death. There is also a team of investigators from
the Netherlands who joined the case and Europol. The use
organized crime and terrorism agency assists two and these international
(22:20):
teams offer two things our local forces do not have,
world class forensic technology and indifference to multice politics.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
And if I remember correctly, one of the FBI guys
had been involved in solving the Boston Meriton bombing. As
a result of the triangulation of data.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
And knowing that car bombs are often triggered using SIM cards.
The FBI team got to work on recovering any traces
that the killer cell phones might have left.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
They got hold of all the data that was passing
through two or three, if I remember correctly, mobile communications
towers the hamlet of Pittnea and in the vicinity.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
That's a huge amount of data, even in a rural area.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Normally it would be beyond the capabilities of multi law enforcement.
How welcome this foreign help was to some in joys
of Moscow's government is not clear.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
They would eventually manage to narrow down all the thousands
of phone calls and messages and data that was being
transmitted in the vicinity of Pittnea at the time. At
the precise time of Daphne's assassination.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
And as we know, the calais had been sloppy, particularly
Chinese George de Georgia waiting on the boat, he had
used his personal cell phone registered in his name to
make calls requesting a credit top up for one of
his burner phones.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Out of all those tens of thousands of phone calls
and text messages and WhatsApp messages, what have you three
numbers which would eventually lead to three men.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
The assassins Vincent Kough, Chinese George and his brother Alfred Deban.
Police already know these men. Their role as players in
the underworld was an open secret, and so with the
FBI's evidence, Malta Security services begin to plan a heavily
armed surprise raid what's known as a SWAT raid, a
(24:26):
swoop that will enable them to seize all three men
and show the world that Malta is capable of the
size of action to protect its citizens.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
The plan is discussed in a briefing for the Prime
Minister and some of his closest advisers. The date for
the SWAT raid is set December the ninth, less than
two months after Daphne's death.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
There is actual footage of the raid as it happened
the Government SAI and in a joint operation by the
Armed Forces, the Malta Security Services and the Multi Police Force.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Part of the video is from the point of view
of one soldier approaching the Keyside building from the sea
in a dingy. You can see his assault rifle resting
on the side of the boat. The area looks run down,
decrepit post industrial sheds with broken roofs, wooden warehouses with
broken windows.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
As they approach the potato shed, you can see officers
climbing up onto the keyside, guns drawn and gesturing for
someone inside to get down on the floor. It's filmed
to be deliberately dramatic, almost in the style of Call
of Duty video games, and the authorities have made sure
to get multiple camera angles. There's even an overhead drawn
shot showing a second swat team entering from the opposite side.
(25:49):
Eventually you see all three of the suspects handcuffed and
lying on the floor of the potato shed. Elsewhere in Malta,
other men suspected of involvement and supply the bomb were
also arrested.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
But there is something odd about this surprise shock rate
by the authorities, almost as if the criminals don't seem
that surprised or shocked, almost as if they had known
the cops were coming.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
The hitmen before the arrests of December twenty seventeen, removed
a lot of items from the potato shed. The mobile
phones were found in the scene. They had been thrown
into sea prior to today of the arrest.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Strange it's a known.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Fact that the hitmen had been forewarned that the hitmen
had been given advanced knowledge.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Three contract killers, murderers of Malta's most famous journalists, apparently
have access to intelligence about the most sensitive police investigation
in modern multice history, an investigation.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
Into them Digiorgio Brothers and Vince Mouscat. Not only that
they were being monitored, not only that they will be arrested,
but they actually knew the day when they will be arrested,
and they actually knew that it would be first thing
in the morning.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Vincent Lecough were way to testify that they were so
confident about the exact timing of the raid that he
got up especially early to make sure he would be
at the potato shed when it took place. The last
thing you want to do is to miss your own
surprise shocks what.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Raid And so even as Dephanie supporters are marching for
justice and international forensic experts are beginning to crack some
parts of the case, Dephanee killers and the man who
ordered her killing still appear to have the overwhelming advantage.
They seem to know every move the investigating team made.
(27:54):
Dephane's friends and family have a long road ahead of.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Them, And then There's the Dog That Didn't That's coming next.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Crooks Everywhere 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 Maddie Hickish. Chris Denesh Kumar is the assistant producer.
The story editors are Emma Federill, Matt Willis and Philippa Geering.
(28:41):
The managing producers are Thomas Curry and Rachel Byrne. The
voice of Dafnick Carvana Galizia is played by Ciena Miller,
acting direction by Christopher Houten. Maltese voices by Mikael basma
Jan and Pierre staff Raj. The executive producers are Johnny
Galvin and Daniel Turken at Vespucci, Christi Gressman at Topic Studios,
(29:03):
Katina Norvel and Nikki Etor At iHeart Podcasts. Ancienna Miller.
Marketing leader is David Wassermann. 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 Carwana Galizia,
Malta is not a real democracy. People in general do
not understand what democracy is, but think it is a
vote in a general election or a referendum. They fail
to understand that for democracy to exist, freedom of expression
must come first.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
A warm October evening in the letter History written in Stone,
it's only a few days after Daphne's murder by car bomb.
Night is falling, and amongst the palaces and churches, the tourists, bars,
buskers and ice cream vendors, some exchange is happening.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
A crowd is gathering, hundreds, then thousands of people from
across our country, spontaneously drawn to mark their sorrow at
what has happened in the last week, young old city
dwellers and people from the villages. Many carry flowers or candles.
Some sing as they walk, most are silent, all united
(01:07):
by their shock at what has happened, also united by
anger at the forces that persecuted Daphne and ultimately many
believe killed her. From iHeart Podcasts, Topic Studios and Vespucci,
I'm Manuel Delilla and this is Crooks Everywhere, Episode three,
(01:31):
The Great Siege, Spontaneous demonstrations are in something that Multa
really does Normally we only come out onto the streets
to celebrate a football win, or the night of a
major election, or a religious festival. But huge protests like
(01:53):
this for Dafne are a signal that the era of
quiet public acceptance is now over, maybe forever. And the
place where disgrieving, angry crowd is marching to is not
just any piazza in Valletta. The monumental, assidual guir or
great siege monument is our Lincoln Memorial, our Travalgar Square,
(02:14):
the symbolic heart of the capital. It commemorates the Great
Siege of fifteen sixty five, when the Ottoman Empire tried
and failed to conquer this land, a marker of the
greatest crisis that Mota faes in the last five hundred years,
a time when forces of destruction threatened and were resisted.
Speaker 2 (02:34):
As the crowd reaches the statues, they throng around, circling them,
filling the space. People begin laying candles on the ground,
the flickering light from so many candles illuminating the foundations
of the old stone. People bring photos of Daphne and
lay them down to other Scribbled personal notes of remembrance
(02:55):
on cards and tape them to the monument.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
And I'm here too with my friends and family, amazed
at how many people have turned out today. By reclaiming
this holy space and making it our space, Deafhne's space,
we are hoping to show that a new siege has begun,
that we are once again under threat as a nation.
Protests like this are the first signs that Deafney will
(03:19):
be even more influential after her murder than she had
been before it.
Speaker 2 (03:26):
Do you remember when you first heard that Daphne had
been murdered? Manwhell I do?
Speaker 3 (03:31):
And of course the first reaction is incredulity, disbelief. But
after the horror began to sink in and I realized
that it must be true, there was another realization. I
knew that this would be a turning point for the
whole country, and very possibly a turning point away from democracy.
Speaker 2 (03:51):
I was in London at the offices of BBC's Newsnight,
where I was working at the time. When the news broke.
There was a kind of silence in the office, a
sense that the life of a great reporter had been
snuffed out. And then the editor of the day says,
get yourself to Malta now and I move, but I
(04:12):
felt a sense of foreboding. I'm used to going to
bad places, but a journalist being blown up in Malta
it's where people go on holiday, for heaven's sake. I
spent many years reporting on Vladimir Putin's Russia, and for
me that seemed like the nearest comparison in terms of
(04:33):
the shamelessness of the crime, And just like a Kremlin killing,
it was both a murder, the wiping out of an
opponent and a warning to others. Using a car bomb
in broad daylight on a public road to silence a
reporter is a statement. It's a declaration of power. We
(04:55):
can get away with anything.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
I had time to think. That's how it felt for
me too, But this was in Moscow or Saint Petersburg.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
It was a democratic EU country. I, like many other people,
still remember where I was and what I was doing.
No matter how much time passes, you do remember.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
This is Jason ot So Party, a lawyer and former
politician and an important player on what happens after Daphanie's death.
He is a former MP for Molta's main opposition party,
the Nationalists, and also one of Daphanie's most famous allies
inside Parliament, known as a big campaigner against the government.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Corruption picture a multi's version of the actor Stanley Tucci.
Heavily framed, glasses, bald head with an intense, subsessive interest
in corruption and might call a crime. You can see
why Jason makes a good lawyer. He has a necessary
forensic memory for detail and the details of the day
Daphney died, as something he has no difficulty recalling.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
So about five and that's passed. Three in the afternoon,
I started getting a floody of phone calls and I
remember the first one was a police officer. His voice
was crackling with emotion and he was crying and he
was telling me in bits and pieces they've killed her,
(06:23):
They've killed her, murdered. Whilst I was on this call,
at the same time, I had a number of other
people trying to get through to me. I was shaking,
I remember, vividly shaking. It was a mixture of anger
and fear.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
And later that day, as the full scope of the
crime became clear, another phone call came through from Daphney's husband, Peter, and.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Just imagine the husband of Deafney calling me on my
mobile at the same time. You know what's happening all
around you, and I froze. I admit I froze. I
didn't know what to say. I simply stammered. Bottom line,
(07:13):
Peter asked me if I could represent the family represent legally.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
Already, within hours of her death, Peter and her sons
were aware of the unequal battle they would be fighting
to get justice. As we know, definitely had powerful enemies,
and even those not directly involved in her death had
incentives to assist in raising her legacy. In other words,
Peter already fears the official channels won't deliver justice.
Speaker 4 (07:43):
Peter told me, Jason, we do not trust the due
to the magistrate to contact an impartial, independent, objective, unbiased inquiry,
and the very first few minutes hours are pretty critical
in such a crime.
Speaker 2 (08:03):
So what's wrong with the duty magistrate In Malta?
Speaker 3 (08:06):
The magistrate is crucial of a murder is to be
correctly and professionally investigated. In the multi system, there is
always a magistrate on duty, a senior legal official whose
job it is to take charge of and preserve evidence
when a serious crime is committed. It's a matter of
timing that determines which magistrate will be assigned to which case.
Definitely had written about a lot of Malta's judges and
(08:27):
lawyers during her career, and that day's magistrate, Consuelorea, had
come up a lot in defnine work, and as usual,
it was strongly.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Opinionated April thirteenth, twenty ten the silly life and shallow
values of Consuelo Hera October eighteenth, twenty ten. It's official
magistrate Herera is not to be trusted in a twelfth,
twenty eleven, giving Consuelo Herrera and her Keystone cops a
run for their money.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
Not very diplomatic, and those are some of the more
polite things that Definitely wrote about the magist.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
Really.
Speaker 3 (09:03):
In fact, Consul Herrera had already sued Daphnely for libel,
although she ultimately withdrew the claim. But on the day
that Daphne died, it was Consuelo Herrera who was assigned
to secure the murder scene, appoint court experts, and take
charge of the evidence.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
So this is Jason as the party's first task. From
Peter Carouina, Galicia and Daphne's sons get Magistrate Cherry Herrera
of the case. Before any legs go cold, and while
the evidence is still there to be gathered, get her
off the case, whatever it takes.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
I would say, round about eight o'clock, half past eight
in the evening. I meet them in the lobby and
the entrance.
Speaker 3 (09:50):
The very same evening as Daphnie's murder. The magistrate summons
the family to the courthouse. The fight to have the
magistrate replaced has already begun.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
One has to remember that the law courts at that
moment were practically deserted, completely dark, because of course it's
after office hours, so it's completely surreal, silent and aching
to a symmetry.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
At this after hours meeting at the law courts are
Jason as party and from the family Daphne's sister Colin,
Daphne's husband Peter, and Matthew, Dafnie's eldest son, the son
who was the first on the scene when Defne was killed.
It's still just hours since Daphanie's murder. Even to get
to the courthouse, the family had to drive right past
the bomb site near their house.
Speaker 4 (10:40):
And again I must admit I didn't know what to say.
I see these two gentlemen in front of me. One
has just seen five hours before his mother being butchered
in front of his eyes, and so I hugged Peter
(11:03):
and Matthew couldn't utter a word, but I do remember
saying to myself feeling a sense of sincere big admiration,
And they were there, standing upright, very stoic, loucid.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
The magistrate's office is open out of hours because of
Daphnie's death. As they wait to be called, they can
see senior government officials and politicians being called in for
meetings with the magistrate, but Daphne's closest relatives, they are
made to wait in the lobby.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
And then as they wait, yet a number of Daphane's
old enemies arrives.
Speaker 4 (11:47):
And at one point we see the then Economy Minister
Chris Cardona entering the law courts because he had been
summoned to testify by the inquiring magistrate.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
It's fair to say that Jason at Soparadi is not
a fan of mister Cardona.
Speaker 4 (12:03):
Chris Cardona sleazy character well known in criminal circus.
Speaker 3 (12:09):
Daphne's investigations into Cardona's conduct are famous across the island,
and her stories about him have already damaged his future
as a major player in multice politics at this point,
Cardona is one of the many people who was suing
Deafne for libel.
Speaker 4 (12:25):
He was pacing up and down the corridor. I remember
it vividly. He was very, very nervous, very nervous.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
What's the story behind the story here? Why is a
cabinet minister present at a murder inquiry and why is
he so nervous.
Speaker 3 (12:47):
Earlier that evening, Cardona had been officially as summoned by
the authorities investigating Daphne's murder. He was not arrested and
left soon after. He has since said in an interview
with the Times of Malta that given his hit history
of clashes with Daphne, it was common sense to call
him in. Chris Cardona did not respond to requests for
an interview for this podcast, and he has consistently denied
(13:11):
being involved in Daphne's murder in any way. But on
this night in twenty seventeen, Jason Natza, party and Daphne's
family were still focused on trying to see if a
different magistrate could be chosen.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
We waited until close to eleven pm. By that time
there had been no core degree and I was starting
to become extremely angry because there were two people who,
instead of mourning their loved one who had been assassinated
some hours before, they were there all alone in the
(13:48):
dark entrance, silent, complete silence of the law cords. So
I knocked on the door of the sitting magistrate, of
the duty magistrate, and thusked her deputy registrar, if she
could kindly be so kind as to us, the inquiring magistrate,
to have some mercy and the decency for these two
(14:09):
gentlemen to be allowed to go home. She came back
to me and told me that we could leave and
the decision would be delivered on the following day.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
And why is this so important to Jason as a
party and Dafnie's family.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
From uther party's viewpoint, it sets the tone. It's like
the magistrate is telling the family, come to us while
you are grieving, and then you can wait, even as
the Maltese public is reeling in shock, even as daphnie
enemies are called in first to be briefed or give statements.
You the family can wait. But yes, there is a
(14:50):
small success. The next day, a different magistrate is chosen.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
I am still sad and upset. That so much time
had elapsed, and especially the emotional toll on the family,
And how.
Speaker 2 (15:03):
Did the single most important politician on Malta who featured
in Daphanese journalism react to her murder. Here is Joseph
muskat the then Prime Minister.
Speaker 4 (15:19):
We will leave no stone unturned.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
In the video you can see him doing his best
portraying concern, righteous indignation, His body language result the kind
of political performance that definitely used merciless. But he also
makes it clear that Daphne's murder is a law enforcement question,
not a political crisis, and that his government does not
(15:44):
have a case to answer in Daphanes's death.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
There is one concrete proposal from the government, the promise
of a one million euro reward about a million dollars
for information leading to the arrest of the killers. Daphne's
family are invited to endorse this offer, but the decline.
The family believe that if they go along with the
reward that might be used against them, that it might
(16:07):
be used to claim that the family trust Prime Minister
Joseph Muskett's plan to find their mother's killers, and at
this stage the family feel far from confidence in his
abilities or his willingness to solve the murder. After the
family refused to participate in the reward scheme, it seems
to be quietly forgotten. To date, no one has ever
(16:29):
claimed or received any of the reward money.
Speaker 4 (16:32):
What I can tell you is that announcement that supposedly
incentive was given very little prominence by the government's channels.
It was literally left by the side. I doubt whether
it was mentioned ever again. If I remember correct, it
(16:54):
was only mentioned once. Definitely not more than twice.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
The government continue to make a public show of taking
Daphne's murder seriously while trying to get the news agenda
back to other topics. But despite their efforts, the crisis
management isn't working. This isn't going to be just a
passing news event. The anger around Daphne's death is building,
not fading.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Protests in Daphne's memory at the Great Siege Monument become
a regular ritual. An international concern about freedom of the
press in Malta also grows.
Speaker 3 (17:37):
At the start of November, two weeks after her death,
eight of the world's largest news organizations right to the
Vice President of the European Commission, urging him to investigate
her murder and the independence of the media in Malta.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
Politicians like Joseph Muscat and Chris Cardona need to be
seen to be mourning the woman that had previously called
a liar and a gossip, who they had previously seen
sued for libel.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
And all comes to a head on the third of November.
At Daphne's funeral, more than a thousand people gather to
pay their final respects to Daphanie at the Rotunda perish
Church in the town of Mosta. Flags are fown at
half mast on government buildings and law courts across the country.
The family refused to let Senia government figures, including the
Prime Minister. At ten during the ceremony, Daphne's son Matthew
(18:34):
suddenly rips a wreath that has been left as a
tribute to his mother. He furiously throws it to one side.
He has realized the wreath is a gift from Morta
speaker of the House of Parliament, angelofar Ruja, the very
same man who was Daphne's arresting officer when she was nineteen.
Speaker 2 (18:50):
And at that moment, as Matthew tears the reef apart,
it's clear that there is no chance of reconciliation between
Daphne's grieving family Multi's political establishment.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
But all this public anger and sorrow isn't yet being
channeled into finding who actually killed Dafni Arwana Galizia, or
to discovering whether any of Malta's political leaders played any
role in her murder.
Speaker 2 (19:20):
We do know that the assassins, the men on the
ground who planted and detonated the bomb that killed her,
are following a careful routine at this point.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
Right after the assassination, Chinese George disposed of his Berner
phone in the way he had on previous occasions, by
throwing it into the harbor water next to the so
called Potato shed, the warehouse that the gang used to
hang out in. The shed functions like their office, equipped
with armchairs, a fridge, and the guard dog. It's where
(19:51):
people go when they want to ask the gang for
help with a problem. And we know that Chinese George
threw his Berner phone into the harbor by the shed
because it turns out to do w There isn't deb deep,
not too deep for a diverse to surget.
Speaker 2 (20:04):
We also know that the killers are shocked just how
big the political backlash to the murder. The murder they'd
committed is murders like the Carmel Kirkop drive by shooting
never made it to the international press and quickly faded
from view even in Malta. After those murders there were
no public protests, still less a funeral on the telly.
(20:28):
There are good reasons to be optimistic at this point
about smoking out the assassins. A car bomb triggered by
a mobile phone leaves a loss of forensic evidence, and
with such a professionally organized killing, the number of possible
culprits in Malta is limited.
Speaker 3 (20:45):
That there's just the purely investigative forensic sidle, the politics
of solving serious crimes and more that are a little
more complex than that, As we're heard in the case
of the drive by murder of carmelker Cop. Professional contract
killings don't get carefully investigated in Malta, if they get
investigated at all. If anyone is punished for a contract killing,
(21:07):
it will be within the criminal fraternity tit for tat.
So the family are not optimistic about finding Daphnese assassins,
let alone discovering whoever ordered the bombing, but Here's where
daphnis family and supporters experience a piece of good luck.
It happens that the head of Malta's counter terrorism unit
is more diligent than some of his colleagues, and he
(21:29):
has a powerful context book. This is Jason, not so pridy.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
He had immediately after Daphnie's assassination, immediately took the initiative
to contact his US counterparts in Rome, and thanks to
the very close working relationship he had with them, the
balls were set in motion for the FBI guys to come.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Over, including international andrism experts. It happens that an FBI
anti terrorism team is in Rome for a training exercise
and they arrive in Malta within twenty four hours of
Dafney's death. There is also a team of investigators from
the Netherlands who joined the case and Europol. The use
organized crime and terrorism agency assists two and these international
(22:20):
teams offer two things our local forces do not have,
world class forensic technology and indifference to multice politics.
Speaker 4 (22:30):
And if I remember correctly, one of the FBI guys
had been involved in solving the Boston Meriton bombing. As
a result of the triangulation of data.
Speaker 3 (22:43):
And knowing that car bombs are often triggered using SIM cards.
The FBI team got to work on recovering any traces
that the killer cell phones might have left.
Speaker 4 (22:51):
They got hold of all the data that was passing
through two or three, if I remember correctly, mobile communications
towers the hamlet of Pittnea and in the vicinity.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
That's a huge amount of data, even in a rural area.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
Normally it would be beyond the capabilities of multi law enforcement.
How welcome this foreign help was to some in joys
of Moscow's government is not clear.
Speaker 4 (23:17):
They would eventually manage to narrow down all the thousands
of phone calls and messages and data that was being
transmitted in the vicinity of Pittnea at the time. At
the precise time of Daphne's assassination.
Speaker 3 (23:34):
And as we know, the calais had been sloppy, particularly
Chinese George de Georgia waiting on the boat, he had
used his personal cell phone registered in his name to
make calls requesting a credit top up for one of
his burner phones.
Speaker 4 (23:50):
Out of all those tens of thousands of phone calls
and text messages and WhatsApp messages, what have you three
numbers which would eventually lead to three men.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
The assassins Vincent Kough, Chinese George and his brother Alfred Deban.
Police already know these men. Their role as players in
the underworld was an open secret, and so with the
FBI's evidence, Malta Security services begin to plan a heavily
armed surprise raid what's known as a SWAT raid, a
(24:26):
swoop that will enable them to seize all three men
and show the world that Malta is capable of the
size of action to protect its citizens.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
The plan is discussed in a briefing for the Prime
Minister and some of his closest advisers. The date for
the SWAT raid is set December the ninth, less than
two months after Daphne's death.
Speaker 3 (24:56):
There is actual footage of the raid as it happened
the Government SAI and in a joint operation by the
Armed Forces, the Malta Security Services and the Multi Police Force.
Speaker 2 (25:05):
Part of the video is from the point of view
of one soldier approaching the Keyside building from the sea
in a dingy. You can see his assault rifle resting
on the side of the boat. The area looks run down,
decrepit post industrial sheds with broken roofs, wooden warehouses with
broken windows.
Speaker 3 (25:24):
As they approach the potato shed, you can see officers
climbing up onto the keyside, guns drawn and gesturing for
someone inside to get down on the floor. It's filmed
to be deliberately dramatic, almost in the style of Call
of Duty video games, and the authorities have made sure
to get multiple camera angles. There's even an overhead drawn
shot showing a second swat team entering from the opposite side.
(25:49):
Eventually you see all three of the suspects handcuffed and
lying on the floor of the potato shed. Elsewhere in Malta,
other men suspected of involvement and supply the bomb were
also arrested.
Speaker 2 (26:02):
But there is something odd about this surprise shock rate
by the authorities, almost as if the criminals don't seem
that surprised or shocked, almost as if they had known
the cops were coming.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
The hitmen before the arrests of December twenty seventeen, removed
a lot of items from the potato shed. The mobile
phones were found in the scene. They had been thrown
into sea prior to today of the arrest.
Speaker 3 (26:35):
Strange it's a known.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Fact that the hitmen had been forewarned that the hitmen
had been given advanced knowledge.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Three contract killers, murderers of Malta's most famous journalists, apparently
have access to intelligence about the most sensitive police investigation
in modern multice history, an investigation.
Speaker 4 (26:55):
Into them Digiorgio Brothers and Vince Mouscat. Not only that
they were being monitored, not only that they will be arrested,
but they actually knew the day when they will be arrested,
and they actually knew that it would be first thing
in the morning.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Vincent Lecough were way to testify that they were so
confident about the exact timing of the raid that he
got up especially early to make sure he would be
at the potato shed when it took place. The last
thing you want to do is to miss your own
surprise shocks what.
Speaker 3 (27:33):
Raid And so even as Dephanie supporters are marching for
justice and international forensic experts are beginning to crack some
parts of the case, Dephanee killers and the man who
ordered her killing still appear to have the overwhelming advantage.
They seem to know every move the investigating team made.
(27:54):
Dephane's friends and family have a long road ahead of.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Them, And then There's the Dog That Didn't That's coming next.
Speaker 3 (28:17):
Crooks Everywhere 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 Maddie Hickish. Chris Denesh Kumar is the assistant producer.
The story editors are Emma Federill, Matt Willis and Philippa Geering.
(28:41):
The managing producers are Thomas Curry and Rachel Byrne. The
voice of Dafnick Carvana Galizia is played by Ciena Miller,
acting direction by Christopher Houten. Maltese voices by Mikael basma
Jan and Pierre staff Raj. The executive producers are Johnny
Galvin and Daniel Turken at Vespucci, Christi Gressman at Topic Studios,
(29:03):
Katina Norvel and Nikki Etor At iHeart Podcasts. Ancienna Miller.
Marketing leader is David Wassermann. 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 Carwana Galizia,
Hosts And Creators
Manuel Delia
John Sweeney
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com