October 23, 2024 • 29 mins
In this country where unsolved murders are commonplace, Melvin the Middleman is out of his depth. He knows that his name could break open the case and fears what the killers – and the alleged mastermind – might do next.
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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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A note to listeners, this episode contains a reference to suicide.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
The escalation in the number of criminals being murdered by
each other gives us some idea of the surge and
growth of the underworld. An underworld of this nature, which
is now moved into contract killings and the elimination of rivals,
will definitely have a network in the country's power structures,
because the two go together.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Early twenty eighteen, a few months after Dafnese murder, the
assassins Vincent de kof Moscat, Chinese George de Georgio and
Alfred de Bin de Georgio are in Malta's Cordine prison
awaiting trial. So far, none of them are talking. It's
an investigative dead end. Mister Alleged Mastermind, the powerful, wealthy
(00:57):
individual who allegedly ordered Daphnese murder, still seems invulnerable. He
is not even considered a suspect, and it appears that,
thanks to Alleged Mastermind's close friendships with corrupt police officers
and senior politicians, every detail of the police investigation is
known to him. He seems invincible. That leaves this guy,
(01:18):
our middleman, Melvin Toma, the taxi driver, Dodgy Bucky and
occasional long Shark, who recruited the assassins, oversaw the murder
and reports back to mister alleged Mastermind.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Melvin the Middleman is the only member of this criminal
enterprise who knows mister Alleged Mastermind's true identity, the only
person who can connect mister Alleged Mastermind to Japanese murder,
and Melvin the Middleman is still free, at least from
the authorities, but he's far from free from the rest
(01:53):
of the gang, and his obligations are only increasing. From
iHeart podcast topic studios in Vespucci, I'm.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
John Sweeney and I'm Manuel Delia and.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
This is Crooks Everywhere, Episode six, Carbon Culture. On this morning,
Melvin the Middleman is paying one of his regular visits
to a modest home in Marsa, the hometown of the killers.
(02:30):
These visits may not look like much, but they are
a window into this world, a world where the assassination
of a journalist, where Daphne's cold blooded murder is possible,
and in its way, this visit will be a masterclass
in power and how to exert it.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
So on this day, Melvin de Middleman is paying a
family visit, but it's far from friendly. The following is
a dramatization based on Melvin de Middlemanto Ma's court testimony.
It streamlines multiple events that took place during this period.
The man who answers the door hurries him inside. Melvin
(03:11):
the Middleman mustn't be seen in front of the house
for long. Melvin reassures him, Hat, Marani, no one is
watching me. He's wrong about that. As it happens, the
man whose house this is is Mario de Georgio, the
older brother of two of the killers, Chinese George de
Georgio and Alfred de Bin de Georgio. Mario de Georgio
(03:35):
is in his early sixties, wears glasses and looks like
an ordinary pensioner, But like the whole family, he's not
someone you want to upset.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
The oldest to Giorgio brother has been officially registered as
out of work for the last fourteen years, and he
seems to be living comfortably. Melvin the Middleman says that
he sees gold chains and a diamond studied rolex during
his visits. Because Daphne's actual killers are locked up, Melvin
alleges that Mario has been designated as the killer's official
(04:09):
representative and spokesman on the outside. It's what Daphne would
call a moral faminalism in action. Greed, power and criminality
channels through family ties and family loyalty, in this case,
family ties that allow the killers to reach through the
prison walls and continue shaping events in the outside world.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Even if the older the Georgia brother, Mario does not
have the same criminal history as his two younger brothers,
he is now their eyes and ears, managing some of
their sensitive business arrangements, like this visit from Melvin, the middleman.
Whatever happens this house called must remain completely see. Mario
de Georgia asks Melvin if he has the afaid things
(04:59):
and Monty they agreed upon deliveries. Melvin nods and begins
pulling out parcels from his bag, placing them on the table.
The food comes first, parcels of rabbit, traditional Maltese cheeses
and delicious to revise steaks Chinese. George and Alfred de
Bean may be behind bars on murder charges, but that's
(05:22):
no reason for them to eat bland prison food like
ordinary criminals, and Melvin doesn't just need to provide the
prison picnics. He's expected personally to foot the bill for
this too.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
If Melvin the Middleman finds all this humiliating, the switch
from hiring Japanese killers to acting as their butler, he
doesn't show it.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
But steaks and rabbit are and the only thing Melvin
the Middleman has been asked to bring on this visit.
Mario asks if he has the other stuff. Melvin jumps
to and passes over the first bulging anth. It's backed
with big denomination banknotes, the euro equivalent of thousands of dollars.
(06:07):
Maria de Georgia Counct one two, three thousand. That's all there.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Japanese Killers have let it be known that while they're
behind bars, they also expect certain other things to be
taken care of. All three of them are family men
with partners and children, so weekly donation has been requested
to pay for family expenses, everything from private school fees
to health insurance, all on top of the original fee
(06:41):
they were paid for the murder. This regular donation has
got steadily larger as the weeks have gone by, and
once again this is all coming out of Melvin the
Middleman's own pocket.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Now, the second envelope of banknotes is handed over, this
one even larger. This is to cover some of the
murderer's legal fees tens of thousands of dollars. The kind
of lawyers they want don't come cheap. According to Melvin
the middleman alleged master mindset he would be paying for this,
and should also be funding all the expenses involved with
(07:16):
keeping the assassins happy behind bars, But in fact he's
come up short. So Melvin is reaching into his own
pocket again to make up the difference, and that keeps happening.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
So jibobawaya.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Here's the reason that Melvin finds himself personally bankrolling so
many of the assassin's expenses. The reason he finds himself
funding a murder plot that wasn't his idea and that
he doesn't benefit from. He simply can't say no. Melvin
the Middleman knows that at any point, any one of
the three killers behind bars could begin talking to the authorities.
(07:53):
So Melvin the Middleman's own freedom depends on their continued silence.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So each week and each month, as the demands for
cash and gifts grow greater and greater, Melvin the Middleman
hands over more and more banknotes to Mario de Georgio.
Much later in court, Melvin the Middleman will describe himself
as feeling blackmailed and having his back to the wall
when faced with these demands from the Georgios. But however
(08:23):
he feels for now he keeps paying, and around this
time it almost seems as though the Georgia clan is
actively enjoying testing how far they can push Melvin's generosity.
The fluffy dog that Mario de Georgia now keeps as
a pet, the one sniffing at the coffee table, that
was another unwilling gift from Melvin. It's not just any pet.
(08:44):
The Georgia wanted a designer pedigree dog imported all the
way from China, one that costs nearly six thousand dollars online.
Melvin the Middleman paid up again at any greed time.
During the visit, Mario de Georgio gets a phone call
from inside Corde Prison. It's the younger of the Georgia brothers, Alfred,
(09:04):
being the Georgia. He wants to know that everything is
running according to plan. Mario de Georgia confirms that Melvin
the Middleman has brought what he supposedly owes for this week,
including their bi steaks and the cheese, and from inside
cordeen prison, the two brothers tell Mario that they have
a special message to pass on to Melvin the middle Man.
(09:26):
Melvin something for him to hear and bear in mind
at all times. Okay, the oldest the Georgia brother listens
and then looks his visitor dead in the eye and
repeats word for word the messages on the inside, not
(09:50):
those on the outside.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Mario Georgia will later be charged with blackmail and money
in connection with the Tessamiley about these events by Melvin
the Middleman, married to Georgio, who's pleaded not guilty, and
the proceedings are still continuing.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
So it appears that Melvin the Middleman is caught in
a delicate web connected to both mister alleged Mastermind on
one side, and did the Georgios and Vincent the Cough
on the other, and it's pretty fragile. His predicament is
in many ways a product of Malta's unique gang culture,
a culture of impunity and power and money, the same
(10:41):
culture that killed Daphne. In fact, the very method use
to murder her is virtually a hallmark of our homegrown mafia,
which brings us to the next piece of the puzzle,
the carbonb.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
So Manuel, where are we?
Speaker 1 (11:01):
This is in Sea Duck Creek, which is a very
busy junction connecting the center to the north of the island.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
And what happened here.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Well a few years back, just across the street early
in the morning, in rush hour traffic, a car blew up.
So let me read you this. This is from Malta today,
twentyeth February twenty seventeen, forty year old man from Floriana
has been critically injured after a car exploded in McDuck
close to the Workers Monument. That's the thing behind me here.
(11:33):
The victim, who has lost both legs in the explosion
has been identified as Romeo Bone. Only last year, Bone
was cleared of participating into two thousand and seven Port
Tomas or jewelry heist. Listen to this. The explosion took
place at around ten thirty am, causing traffic creos in
the area. The witnesses said that Bone was dragged away
from the car by passers by, who also reported that
(11:53):
he was conscious and was able to identify himself.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
And was anybody arrested tried convicted for this car bombing.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
This was one of a long series of car bombs,
and over none of those car bombs was there ever
any arrest, never mind charges or prosecution or any of that.
No one was ever arrested for these. There's also this
spectacular factor, right, this is a ball of fire in
the middle of the road. Is someone being pulled out
(12:23):
without their legs from that car? And this is where
a bit of reaction starts. The public starts expecting the
police to act on this because the police are not
making any arrest, they're not getting anywhere.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
So the gangsters who were blowing people up, what was
there to take away from this When nobody's arrested, nobody's prosecuted, uncertainly,
nobody's convicted.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
I think the most important messages that they could get
away with it that this was fine, that this method
would work. In fact, when you study the series of
car bombings that preceded Daphne's more some patterns emerge. First
the sheer frequency.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
There was one in January six, twenty sixteen, another in
September twenty sixteen. You know, there was one in October
twenty sixteen. January twenty seventeen, February twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
You know, Julian Bonici is a former Maltese journalist who
has tried to catalog these killings.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
These are five car bombs within the space of a
year and nothing was done about it. Five bombs and
a yeah should be a major red flag.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
There had been nineteen bomb attacks, many of them car bombs,
in the seven years leading up to Dafnese murder in
a country the size of Malta with a population of
only half a million people. That's an incredible statistic. And
the second pattern that emerged is the similarity in the
carbon devices, suggesting an organized infrastructure a production line behind
(13:54):
each attack. Dafnee bomb appears to have come from this
production line. Take the killing of John Camillary, blown up
around the year before Deafnie.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
He was meted by carbon in Saint Paul's Bay. The
car bomb was particularly powerful, you know, during the day,
it was a really shocking scene.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
News footage shows a white car turned almost inside out
by the blast, the roof peeled back and blackened, all
in the middle of a normal residential street.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
And the bomb, much like very similar other cases, was
placed on the Camilliary seat and was detonated by mobile.
But what's very interesting about this murder is Camilary was
also chasing Georgia Georgia for some money at the time,
for over fifty two thousand euros.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Yes, Chinese George de Georgio, one of Dafnie's assassins, and
allegedly the man who drove the car in the drive
by murder of the lawyer carmelker Kopp that we heard
about in episode one. It's probably a good moment to
emphasize that no one has been convicted for the Camillary
killing or any of the other car bombs other than Daphny's.
(15:02):
So in the majority of these murders we don't know
officially or otherwise who carried them out. But as is
becoming increasingly clear, there are many more people involved than
just those who pull the trigger or in this case,
detonate the bomb. There is a wider organized infrastructure and
the same names start to come up. If we ask
(15:23):
who supplied all the materials for the bomb that killed Daphnie,
another connection with previous bombings seems to emerge. According to
later testimony by Vincent, the kof those materials were supplied
by a criminal gang led by two notorious brothers, Adrian
and Robert Tajus. Their organization's street name is Talmaksar. No
(15:44):
translation of this phrase works.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Vincent macaff was telling people that Talmukshah had worked closely
with the Di Giorgios and him for years. He later
estimated that at one point Seal Makshah were handing over
the equivalent of twenty one thousand dollars per month through
the Georgios for quotes work end quotes. The two criminal
gangs appeared to have cooperated closely on other things too.
(16:10):
In the Carmel Kirkopp drive by murder, the shooter was
allegedly Jamie Vella, an alleged associate of tal Muxar doctor
kirk Coopp. The victim was owed money by one of
the tal Muxar brothers, and according to Vincent the Cough,
Jamie Veller and Robert Adjus were also closely involved in
the logistics of Daphne's murder too. Remember, the first plan
(16:35):
was to kill Daphne by shooting her through the window
of her home. Tal Maxa's Robert Adeus was alleged to
have supplied the rifles.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
When that plan was abandoned. And the decision was made
to switch to a car bomb. The police believe Jamievella
picked up the bomb in Sicily and brought it to
Malta on the ferry, an import service of a kind.
Vincent Dakoff was a unsurprised. He said that Al Maksarman
were known to have many Italian friends and not too
(17:06):
subtle reference to connections with the mafia. And there are
also striking similarities between the bomb that killed Daphne and
the device that donated in rush hour traffic at mcd creek.
The bomb that amputated Romeo Bone's legs also triggered by
cell phone.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
What's very interesting about this med is that the court
sittings have revealed, you know, a potential link, you know,
between this explosion of Romeo Bone, Vince and Vince Musca,
George Georgia and Alfred de Georgia, or the three men
charged with murdering Dafnieasa.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
According to Vincent Lakoff's testimony, Japhanes's gillers were so conscious
of the fact that mister Bone had survived that they
discussed whether it was wise to use a similar device
to kill Daphne. They put these professional concerns to Tom
Maxar's Robert Aurjeus as the bomb supplier, and they got
an intriguing and detailed answer. The Romeo bone bomb had
(18:09):
failed to kill its target, they were told, because it
had been placed under the car's key lock, not under
the seat, and so the blast had been misdirected. The
kind of detailed information that you would need to be
close to the perpetrators to know, it might seem.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Once again, no one has ever been convicted of any
of these crimes other than Daphanie's murder.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Roberts Us and Jamie Veller are currently awaiting trial for
complicity in Daphanese's murder as well as the Carmel Kirkop killing,
alongside other charges. Edrin ADUs is a waiting trial for
involvement in the Carmel Kirk coop killing, but is not
charged with involvement in Daphane's murder. They all deny the charges.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
October twelfth, twenty fourteen. Some background on crime gang Adrian Adjus.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Daphne did not write much on street crime in Malta,
but she did write one post about Adrian Adjus.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
It was a characteristically fearless post and it mentioned another
business associate of mister Ajus, who had disappeared suddenly.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Adrian Addus's friend and close associate, the drug dealer Terence
janen Say, vanished in November twenty twelve after telling his
family that he was going fishing. His car was found
parked and locked, and his yacht was still at its
usual mooring. None of his bank accounts have been touched
since he has presumed dead. He was twenty four when
he vanished.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
It's important to note that Daphni never directly accused Adrian
Ajus of the murder, and he was never convicted. Surprisingly,
it's possible that we know exactly what Adrian Ajews thought
about this blog post. Under the post, one of Daphne's
fans had written anonymously praising her for covering this topic
and raising further questions about mister Ajus's family criminal history.
(20:00):
Mister A Juice appears to have responded to this fan.
Someone posting and Adrianajus's name wrote, I know you don't
have the balls, but if you find them somewhere in
your wife's pocket, let's meet up and we sort things out.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
You are just a low life afraid to show your face.
Unsolved murders in themselves are a little bit part of
multi sculpture.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
I'd hate to say it.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
You know, we've had some really high profile killings in
the country, murders that just sort of went code. A
sort of question that always needed in my mind is
why these, particularly Mathia style murders never got solved.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Take the car bombings for example. The space of these
bombings in the years leading up to Japanese's death was
so pronounced, but it provided the impetus for the police
to purchase a special computed database to collate and store
evidence of these killings going years. So when Daphne was murdered,
that should have been the starting point for police to
(21:06):
tease out these very patents and connections from previous crimes.
But when the officer leading the investigation into Daphne's death
opened the database, he found almost nothing. Later he described
this as bare, almost unused, and the crimes remained unsolved.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
And that brings us to one of Daphnie's great themes,
Malta's culture of corruption.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
It's impossible and mold not to have connections. You know,
your minister, your police officer is not twenty kilometers away,
he's down the road. You know, you can't bump into
him at the supermarket, he said, you know, so, yeah,
what I did it created this. I think it just
(21:55):
adds to the climate and the culture of empiathetics and
the more the.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Same impunity that fueled both the high level misdeeds exposed
in Dafnes's blog and our epidemic of car bombings and
contract killings.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
Criminals are confident in Morta, all the hitmen they did
it because they thought they could get away with it.
I think they were probably sure they could get away
with it. I mean major crime in mals are at
least for me. I mean, this is my perspective, and
I think the fact and figures would back me up.
Is that goes ignored, you know, whether it's a question
(22:30):
of resources in the police department, whether it's a question
of you know, corruption, bribery and what it does. Obviously
it creates a climate where these things can happen.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Indeed, these things can happen. So for all these reasons,
when Melvin the Middleman is paying visits to Mario de
Giorgio and Marsa and making his regular donations of food,
cash and gifts, he is every good reason to fear
those on the inside. But Melvin the Middleman is also
reaching breaking point. He's beginning to realize that he is
(23:10):
far out of his depth with this crime and its aftermath.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Soon after the arrest of the de Georgios and Vincent
de Kov, Melvin the Middleman takes out a will for
the first time, he begins drinking heavily and taking tranquilizers. Later,
he will testify that his relationship with his boss, mister
Alleged Mastermind, also changes. Although the two of them have
(23:35):
known and trusted each other for decades, for the first time,
Melvin the Middleman begins to fear his old friend and godfather,
fear him almost as much as he fears the de Georgios.
As ever, Melvin the Middleman is aware that he is
the only man who knows Alleged Mastermind's role in Dafne's murder,
and so if he Melvin were to disappear Suddenly, he
(23:59):
realizes it might of an important problem for mister Alleged Mastermind.
For all their years of friendship, nothing can change that fact,
And increasingly Melvin the Middleman sees that what happened to
people like Romeo Bone, Carmelker Cobb, John Camilly and Tiffany
herself could happen to him, and if it did happen,
(24:20):
he also knows there is little chance mister alleged Mastermind
would ever be caught.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
At times, Melvin contemplates turning himself into the police, even
driving to a police station, before turning back at the
last minute, fearing the power and influence of mister alleged Mastermind.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
And as time goes on, Melvin's drinking and self control
keep getting worse. At one point, he turns up at
Alleged Mastermind's office in front of important international businessmen, wanting reassurance.
As the police investigation develops and the international pressure on
Malta is so off, Daphne's murder grows, mister Eliged master
Mind continues to try to calm Melvin the Middleman down.
(25:07):
He reminds him of the political connections that are in
their favor. He texts him not to panic, to stay strong.
They both know that if Melvin cracks under the pressure,
he might bring them both down, and so the measures
mister religid master Mind takes to keep Melvin the Middleman
on side become more extravagant. At one point he even
(25:29):
pays for Melvin and his family to have a beach
holiday at his expense to reduce their stress levels. But Melvin,
perhaps wisely, is not reassured. He senses the risk of
betrayal ever more strongly. Years later, in court, Melvin the
Middleman described how Daphne's fate, the murder he had organized
(25:50):
as a favor, now felt like a warning for his
own future. I thought it was my turn now, he said.
One evening, mister alleged Mastermind tries to cheer Melvin up
with a gift of some meat and wine to take home,
(26:11):
but Melvin doesn't dare touch it. Jason Atterpietly asked him
about this in court. He believed it was poisoned and
he threw it away.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
He said in court that too much, I was afraid
for my life, and.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
The pressure from mister alleged Mastermind, from quotes those inside,
and from the police investigation continues to build. One night,
he becomes too much. He drinks whiskey and takes pills,
and then he climbs up onto the roof of his house,
having decided to end it all, And at the top
(26:46):
he waits, but something stops him.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
He later said that at that moment in his mind,
he imagined mister Leig, mastermind, with his legs crossed, smoking
a cigar to celebrate getting away with everything, and the
idea of that made him decide instead to fight for
his survival, and.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
He realizes there is one way he can begin to
protect himself by using the secrets he's carrying to his
own advantage a weapon to defend himself. One thing that
those responsible for Daphne's murder haven't considered.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
And there's something else they didn't reckon on Daphne's family
and their own determination to bring her killers to justice
whatever the cost.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
We were turning up with speaking points about the corruption crisis,
and in doing so, we were in a way dehumanizing
our own mother. We were turning her into a case,
and we were turning ourselves into campaigners rather than grieving songs.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
That's next time.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
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 Maddi Hickish. Chris Denesh Kumar is the assistant producer.
The story editors are Emma Federill, Matt Willis and Philippa Geering.
(28:36):
The managing producers are Thomas Curry and Rachel Byrne.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
The voice of.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Dafnie Carvana Galizia is played by Ciena Miller, acting direction
by Christopher Houten, Multie 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 Norvell,
and Nicki Etoor at iHeart Podcasts. Ancienna Miller marketing leader
(29:04):
is David Wasserman. Audio recording by Tom Berry at Wardoor Studios.
Audio mix and sound design by Joel Cox. Special thanks
to Andrew Watchcardona, Alessandra di Crespo, Eddie Isles, and Andrew
Carvana Galicia
A note to listeners, this episode contains a reference to suicide.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
The escalation in the number of criminals being murdered by
each other gives us some idea of the surge and
growth of the underworld. An underworld of this nature, which
is now moved into contract killings and the elimination of rivals,
will definitely have a network in the country's power structures,
because the two go together.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Early twenty eighteen, a few months after Dafnese murder, the
assassins Vincent de kof Moscat, Chinese George de Georgio and
Alfred de Bin de Georgio are in Malta's Cordine prison
awaiting trial. So far, none of them are talking. It's
an investigative dead end. Mister Alleged Mastermind, the powerful, wealthy
(00:57):
individual who allegedly ordered Daphnese murder, still seems invulnerable. He
is not even considered a suspect, and it appears that,
thanks to Alleged Mastermind's close friendships with corrupt police officers
and senior politicians, every detail of the police investigation is
known to him. He seems invincible. That leaves this guy,
(01:18):
our middleman, Melvin Toma, the taxi driver, Dodgy Bucky and
occasional long Shark, who recruited the assassins, oversaw the murder
and reports back to mister alleged Mastermind.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Melvin the Middleman is the only member of this criminal
enterprise who knows mister Alleged Mastermind's true identity, the only
person who can connect mister Alleged Mastermind to Japanese murder,
and Melvin the Middleman is still free, at least from
the authorities, but he's far from free from the rest
(01:53):
of the gang, and his obligations are only increasing. From
iHeart podcast topic studios in Vespucci, I'm.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
John Sweeney and I'm Manuel Delia and.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
This is Crooks Everywhere, Episode six, Carbon Culture. On this morning,
Melvin the Middleman is paying one of his regular visits
to a modest home in Marsa, the hometown of the killers.
(02:30):
These visits may not look like much, but they are
a window into this world, a world where the assassination
of a journalist, where Daphne's cold blooded murder is possible,
and in its way, this visit will be a masterclass
in power and how to exert it.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
So on this day, Melvin de Middleman is paying a
family visit, but it's far from friendly. The following is
a dramatization based on Melvin de Middlemanto Ma's court testimony.
It streamlines multiple events that took place during this period.
The man who answers the door hurries him inside. Melvin
(03:11):
the Middleman mustn't be seen in front of the house
for long. Melvin reassures him, Hat, Marani, no one is
watching me. He's wrong about that. As it happens, the
man whose house this is is Mario de Georgio, the
older brother of two of the killers, Chinese George de
Georgio and Alfred de Bin de Georgio. Mario de Georgio
(03:35):
is in his early sixties, wears glasses and looks like
an ordinary pensioner, But like the whole family, he's not
someone you want to upset.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
The oldest to Giorgio brother has been officially registered as
out of work for the last fourteen years, and he
seems to be living comfortably. Melvin the Middleman says that
he sees gold chains and a diamond studied rolex during
his visits. Because Daphne's actual killers are locked up, Melvin
alleges that Mario has been designated as the killer's official
(04:09):
representative and spokesman on the outside. It's what Daphne would
call a moral faminalism in action. Greed, power and criminality
channels through family ties and family loyalty, in this case,
family ties that allow the killers to reach through the
prison walls and continue shaping events in the outside world.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Even if the older the Georgia brother, Mario does not
have the same criminal history as his two younger brothers,
he is now their eyes and ears, managing some of
their sensitive business arrangements, like this visit from Melvin, the middleman.
Whatever happens this house called must remain completely see. Mario
de Georgia asks Melvin if he has the afaid things
(04:59):
and Monty they agreed upon deliveries. Melvin nods and begins
pulling out parcels from his bag, placing them on the table.
The food comes first, parcels of rabbit, traditional Maltese cheeses
and delicious to revise steaks Chinese. George and Alfred de
Bean may be behind bars on murder charges, but that's
(05:22):
no reason for them to eat bland prison food like
ordinary criminals, and Melvin doesn't just need to provide the
prison picnics. He's expected personally to foot the bill for
this too.
Speaker 3 (05:33):
If Melvin the Middleman finds all this humiliating, the switch
from hiring Japanese killers to acting as their butler, he
doesn't show it.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
But steaks and rabbit are and the only thing Melvin
the Middleman has been asked to bring on this visit.
Mario asks if he has the other stuff. Melvin jumps
to and passes over the first bulging anth. It's backed
with big denomination banknotes, the euro equivalent of thousands of dollars.
(06:07):
Maria de Georgia Counct one two, three thousand. That's all there.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
Japanese Killers have let it be known that while they're
behind bars, they also expect certain other things to be
taken care of. All three of them are family men
with partners and children, so weekly donation has been requested
to pay for family expenses, everything from private school fees
to health insurance, all on top of the original fee
(06:41):
they were paid for the murder. This regular donation has
got steadily larger as the weeks have gone by, and
once again this is all coming out of Melvin the
Middleman's own pocket.
Speaker 1 (06:55):
Now, the second envelope of banknotes is handed over, this
one even larger. This is to cover some of the
murderer's legal fees tens of thousands of dollars. The kind
of lawyers they want don't come cheap. According to Melvin
the middleman alleged master mindset he would be paying for this,
and should also be funding all the expenses involved with
(07:16):
keeping the assassins happy behind bars, But in fact he's
come up short. So Melvin is reaching into his own
pocket again to make up the difference, and that keeps happening.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
So jibobawaya.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Here's the reason that Melvin finds himself personally bankrolling so
many of the assassin's expenses. The reason he finds himself
funding a murder plot that wasn't his idea and that
he doesn't benefit from. He simply can't say no. Melvin
the Middleman knows that at any point, any one of
the three killers behind bars could begin talking to the authorities.
(07:53):
So Melvin the Middleman's own freedom depends on their continued silence.
Speaker 1 (08:00):
So each week and each month, as the demands for
cash and gifts grow greater and greater, Melvin the Middleman
hands over more and more banknotes to Mario de Georgio.
Much later in court, Melvin the Middleman will describe himself
as feeling blackmailed and having his back to the wall
when faced with these demands from the Georgios. But however
(08:23):
he feels for now he keeps paying, and around this
time it almost seems as though the Georgia clan is
actively enjoying testing how far they can push Melvin's generosity.
The fluffy dog that Mario de Georgia now keeps as
a pet, the one sniffing at the coffee table, that
was another unwilling gift from Melvin. It's not just any pet.
(08:44):
The Georgia wanted a designer pedigree dog imported all the
way from China, one that costs nearly six thousand dollars online.
Melvin the Middleman paid up again at any greed time.
During the visit, Mario de Georgio gets a phone call
from inside Corde Prison. It's the younger of the Georgia brothers, Alfred,
(09:04):
being the Georgia. He wants to know that everything is
running according to plan. Mario de Georgia confirms that Melvin
the Middleman has brought what he supposedly owes for this week,
including their bi steaks and the cheese, and from inside
cordeen prison, the two brothers tell Mario that they have
a special message to pass on to Melvin the middle Man.
(09:26):
Melvin something for him to hear and bear in mind
at all times. Okay, the oldest the Georgia brother listens
and then looks his visitor dead in the eye and
repeats word for word the messages on the inside, not
(09:50):
those on the outside.
Speaker 3 (09:56):
Mario Georgia will later be charged with blackmail and money
in connection with the Tessamiley about these events by Melvin
the Middleman, married to Georgio, who's pleaded not guilty, and
the proceedings are still continuing.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
So it appears that Melvin the Middleman is caught in
a delicate web connected to both mister alleged Mastermind on
one side, and did the Georgios and Vincent the Cough
on the other, and it's pretty fragile. His predicament is
in many ways a product of Malta's unique gang culture,
a culture of impunity and power and money, the same
(10:41):
culture that killed Daphne. In fact, the very method use
to murder her is virtually a hallmark of our homegrown mafia,
which brings us to the next piece of the puzzle,
the carbonb.
Speaker 3 (10:59):
So Manuel, where are we?
Speaker 1 (11:01):
This is in Sea Duck Creek, which is a very
busy junction connecting the center to the north of the island.
Speaker 3 (11:09):
And what happened here.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Well a few years back, just across the street early
in the morning, in rush hour traffic, a car blew up.
So let me read you this. This is from Malta today,
twentyeth February twenty seventeen, forty year old man from Floriana
has been critically injured after a car exploded in McDuck
close to the Workers Monument. That's the thing behind me here.
(11:33):
The victim, who has lost both legs in the explosion
has been identified as Romeo Bone. Only last year, Bone
was cleared of participating into two thousand and seven Port
Tomas or jewelry heist. Listen to this. The explosion took
place at around ten thirty am, causing traffic creos in
the area. The witnesses said that Bone was dragged away
from the car by passers by, who also reported that
(11:53):
he was conscious and was able to identify himself.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
And was anybody arrested tried convicted for this car bombing.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
This was one of a long series of car bombs,
and over none of those car bombs was there ever
any arrest, never mind charges or prosecution or any of that.
No one was ever arrested for these. There's also this
spectacular factor, right, this is a ball of fire in
the middle of the road. Is someone being pulled out
(12:23):
without their legs from that car? And this is where
a bit of reaction starts. The public starts expecting the
police to act on this because the police are not
making any arrest, they're not getting anywhere.
Speaker 3 (12:34):
So the gangsters who were blowing people up, what was
there to take away from this When nobody's arrested, nobody's prosecuted, uncertainly,
nobody's convicted.
Speaker 1 (12:44):
I think the most important messages that they could get
away with it that this was fine, that this method
would work. In fact, when you study the series of
car bombings that preceded Daphne's more some patterns emerge. First
the sheer frequency.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
There was one in January six, twenty sixteen, another in
September twenty sixteen. You know, there was one in October
twenty sixteen. January twenty seventeen, February twenty seventeen.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
You know, Julian Bonici is a former Maltese journalist who
has tried to catalog these killings.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
These are five car bombs within the space of a
year and nothing was done about it. Five bombs and
a yeah should be a major red flag.
Speaker 1 (13:32):
There had been nineteen bomb attacks, many of them car bombs,
in the seven years leading up to Dafnese murder in
a country the size of Malta with a population of
only half a million people. That's an incredible statistic. And
the second pattern that emerged is the similarity in the
carbon devices, suggesting an organized infrastructure a production line behind
(13:54):
each attack. Dafnee bomb appears to have come from this
production line. Take the killing of John Camillary, blown up
around the year before Deafnie.
Speaker 4 (14:04):
He was meted by carbon in Saint Paul's Bay. The
car bomb was particularly powerful, you know, during the day,
it was a really shocking scene.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
News footage shows a white car turned almost inside out
by the blast, the roof peeled back and blackened, all
in the middle of a normal residential street.
Speaker 4 (14:23):
And the bomb, much like very similar other cases, was
placed on the Camilliary seat and was detonated by mobile.
But what's very interesting about this murder is Camilary was
also chasing Georgia Georgia for some money at the time,
for over fifty two thousand euros.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
Yes, Chinese George de Georgio, one of Dafnie's assassins, and
allegedly the man who drove the car in the drive
by murder of the lawyer carmelker Kopp that we heard
about in episode one. It's probably a good moment to
emphasize that no one has been convicted for the Camillary
killing or any of the other car bombs other than Daphny's.
(15:02):
So in the majority of these murders we don't know
officially or otherwise who carried them out. But as is
becoming increasingly clear, there are many more people involved than
just those who pull the trigger or in this case,
detonate the bomb. There is a wider organized infrastructure and
the same names start to come up. If we ask
(15:23):
who supplied all the materials for the bomb that killed Daphnie,
another connection with previous bombings seems to emerge. According to
later testimony by Vincent, the kof those materials were supplied
by a criminal gang led by two notorious brothers, Adrian
and Robert Tajus. Their organization's street name is Talmaksar. No
(15:44):
translation of this phrase works.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Vincent macaff was telling people that Talmukshah had worked closely
with the Di Giorgios and him for years. He later
estimated that at one point Seal Makshah were handing over
the equivalent of twenty one thousand dollars per month through
the Georgios for quotes work end quotes. The two criminal
gangs appeared to have cooperated closely on other things too.
(16:10):
In the Carmel Kirkopp drive by murder, the shooter was
allegedly Jamie Vella, an alleged associate of tal Muxar doctor
kirk Coopp. The victim was owed money by one of
the tal Muxar brothers, and according to Vincent the Cough,
Jamie Veller and Robert Adjus were also closely involved in
the logistics of Daphne's murder too. Remember, the first plan
(16:35):
was to kill Daphne by shooting her through the window
of her home. Tal Maxa's Robert Adeus was alleged to
have supplied the rifles.
Speaker 1 (16:45):
When that plan was abandoned. And the decision was made
to switch to a car bomb. The police believe Jamievella
picked up the bomb in Sicily and brought it to
Malta on the ferry, an import service of a kind.
Vincent Dakoff was a unsurprised. He said that Al Maksarman
were known to have many Italian friends and not too
(17:06):
subtle reference to connections with the mafia. And there are
also striking similarities between the bomb that killed Daphne and
the device that donated in rush hour traffic at mcd creek.
The bomb that amputated Romeo Bone's legs also triggered by
cell phone.
Speaker 4 (17:26):
What's very interesting about this med is that the court
sittings have revealed, you know, a potential link, you know,
between this explosion of Romeo Bone, Vince and Vince Musca,
George Georgia and Alfred de Georgia, or the three men
charged with murdering Dafnieasa.
Speaker 3 (17:46):
According to Vincent Lakoff's testimony, Japhanes's gillers were so conscious
of the fact that mister Bone had survived that they
discussed whether it was wise to use a similar device
to kill Daphne. They put these professional concerns to Tom
Maxar's Robert Aurjeus as the bomb supplier, and they got
an intriguing and detailed answer. The Romeo bone bomb had
(18:09):
failed to kill its target, they were told, because it
had been placed under the car's key lock, not under
the seat, and so the blast had been misdirected. The
kind of detailed information that you would need to be
close to the perpetrators to know, it might seem.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
Once again, no one has ever been convicted of any
of these crimes other than Daphanie's murder.
Speaker 3 (18:32):
Roberts Us and Jamie Veller are currently awaiting trial for
complicity in Daphanese's murder as well as the Carmel Kirkop killing,
alongside other charges. Edrin ADUs is a waiting trial for
involvement in the Carmel Kirk coop killing, but is not
charged with involvement in Daphane's murder. They all deny the charges.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
October twelfth, twenty fourteen. Some background on crime gang Adrian Adjus.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Daphne did not write much on street crime in Malta,
but she did write one post about Adrian Adjus.
Speaker 1 (19:08):
It was a characteristically fearless post and it mentioned another
business associate of mister Ajus, who had disappeared suddenly.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
Adrian Addus's friend and close associate, the drug dealer Terence
janen Say, vanished in November twenty twelve after telling his
family that he was going fishing. His car was found
parked and locked, and his yacht was still at its
usual mooring. None of his bank accounts have been touched
since he has presumed dead. He was twenty four when
he vanished.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
It's important to note that Daphni never directly accused Adrian
Ajus of the murder, and he was never convicted. Surprisingly,
it's possible that we know exactly what Adrian Ajews thought
about this blog post. Under the post, one of Daphne's
fans had written anonymously praising her for covering this topic
and raising further questions about mister Ajus's family criminal history.
(20:00):
Mister A Juice appears to have responded to this fan.
Someone posting and Adrianajus's name wrote, I know you don't
have the balls, but if you find them somewhere in
your wife's pocket, let's meet up and we sort things out.
Speaker 4 (20:14):
You are just a low life afraid to show your face.
Unsolved murders in themselves are a little bit part of
multi sculpture.
Speaker 1 (20:29):
I'd hate to say it.
Speaker 4 (20:30):
You know, we've had some really high profile killings in
the country, murders that just sort of went code. A
sort of question that always needed in my mind is
why these, particularly Mathia style murders never got solved.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Take the car bombings for example. The space of these
bombings in the years leading up to Japanese's death was
so pronounced, but it provided the impetus for the police
to purchase a special computed database to collate and store
evidence of these killings going years. So when Daphne was murdered,
that should have been the starting point for police to
(21:06):
tease out these very patents and connections from previous crimes.
But when the officer leading the investigation into Daphne's death
opened the database, he found almost nothing. Later he described
this as bare, almost unused, and the crimes remained unsolved.
Speaker 1 (21:28):
And that brings us to one of Daphnie's great themes,
Malta's culture of corruption.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
It's impossible and mold not to have connections. You know,
your minister, your police officer is not twenty kilometers away,
he's down the road. You know, you can't bump into
him at the supermarket, he said, you know, so, yeah,
what I did it created this. I think it just
(21:55):
adds to the climate and the culture of empiathetics and
the more the.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Same impunity that fueled both the high level misdeeds exposed
in Dafnes's blog and our epidemic of car bombings and
contract killings.
Speaker 4 (22:09):
Criminals are confident in Morta, all the hitmen they did
it because they thought they could get away with it.
I think they were probably sure they could get away
with it. I mean major crime in mals are at
least for me. I mean, this is my perspective, and
I think the fact and figures would back me up.
Is that goes ignored, you know, whether it's a question
(22:30):
of resources in the police department, whether it's a question
of you know, corruption, bribery and what it does. Obviously
it creates a climate where these things can happen.
Speaker 3 (22:45):
Indeed, these things can happen. So for all these reasons,
when Melvin the Middleman is paying visits to Mario de
Giorgio and Marsa and making his regular donations of food,
cash and gifts, he is every good reason to fear
those on the inside. But Melvin the Middleman is also
reaching breaking point. He's beginning to realize that he is
(23:10):
far out of his depth with this crime and its aftermath.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Soon after the arrest of the de Georgios and Vincent
de Kov, Melvin the Middleman takes out a will for
the first time, he begins drinking heavily and taking tranquilizers. Later,
he will testify that his relationship with his boss, mister
Alleged Mastermind, also changes. Although the two of them have
(23:35):
known and trusted each other for decades, for the first time,
Melvin the Middleman begins to fear his old friend and godfather,
fear him almost as much as he fears the de Georgios.
As ever, Melvin the Middleman is aware that he is
the only man who knows Alleged Mastermind's role in Dafne's murder,
and so if he Melvin were to disappear Suddenly, he
(23:59):
realizes it might of an important problem for mister Alleged Mastermind.
For all their years of friendship, nothing can change that fact,
And increasingly Melvin the Middleman sees that what happened to
people like Romeo Bone, Carmelker Cobb, John Camilly and Tiffany
herself could happen to him, and if it did happen,
(24:20):
he also knows there is little chance mister alleged Mastermind
would ever be caught.
Speaker 3 (24:27):
At times, Melvin contemplates turning himself into the police, even
driving to a police station, before turning back at the
last minute, fearing the power and influence of mister alleged Mastermind.
Speaker 1 (24:43):
And as time goes on, Melvin's drinking and self control
keep getting worse. At one point, he turns up at
Alleged Mastermind's office in front of important international businessmen, wanting reassurance.
As the police investigation develops and the international pressure on
Malta is so off, Daphne's murder grows, mister Eliged master
Mind continues to try to calm Melvin the Middleman down.
(25:07):
He reminds him of the political connections that are in
their favor. He texts him not to panic, to stay strong.
They both know that if Melvin cracks under the pressure,
he might bring them both down, and so the measures
mister religid master Mind takes to keep Melvin the Middleman
on side become more extravagant. At one point he even
(25:29):
pays for Melvin and his family to have a beach
holiday at his expense to reduce their stress levels. But Melvin,
perhaps wisely, is not reassured. He senses the risk of
betrayal ever more strongly. Years later, in court, Melvin the
Middleman described how Daphne's fate, the murder he had organized
(25:50):
as a favor, now felt like a warning for his
own future. I thought it was my turn now, he said.
One evening, mister alleged Mastermind tries to cheer Melvin up
with a gift of some meat and wine to take home,
(26:11):
but Melvin doesn't dare touch it. Jason Atterpietly asked him
about this in court. He believed it was poisoned and
he threw it away.
Speaker 5 (26:20):
He said in court that too much, I was afraid
for my life, and.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
The pressure from mister alleged Mastermind, from quotes those inside,
and from the police investigation continues to build. One night,
he becomes too much. He drinks whiskey and takes pills,
and then he climbs up onto the roof of his house,
having decided to end it all, And at the top
(26:46):
he waits, but something stops him.
Speaker 1 (26:55):
He later said that at that moment in his mind,
he imagined mister Leig, mastermind, with his legs crossed, smoking
a cigar to celebrate getting away with everything, and the
idea of that made him decide instead to fight for
his survival, and.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
He realizes there is one way he can begin to
protect himself by using the secrets he's carrying to his
own advantage a weapon to defend himself. One thing that
those responsible for Daphne's murder haven't considered.
Speaker 1 (27:38):
And there's something else they didn't reckon on Daphne's family
and their own determination to bring her killers to justice
whatever the cost.
Speaker 5 (27:48):
We were turning up with speaking points about the corruption crisis,
and in doing so, we were in a way dehumanizing
our own mother. We were turning her into a case,
and we were turning ourselves into campaigners rather than grieving songs.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
That's next time.
Speaker 1 (28:13):
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 Maddi Hickish. Chris Denesh Kumar is the assistant producer.
The story editors are Emma Federill, Matt Willis and Philippa Geering.
(28:36):
The managing producers are Thomas Curry and Rachel Byrne.
Speaker 3 (28:40):
The voice of.
Speaker 1 (28:41):
Dafnie Carvana Galizia is played by Ciena Miller, acting direction
by Christopher Houten, Multie 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 Norvell,
and Nicki Etoor at iHeart Podcasts. Ancienna Miller marketing leader
(29:04):
is David Wasserman. Audio recording by Tom Berry at Wardoor Studios.
Audio mix and sound design by Joel Cox. Special thanks
to Andrew Watchcardona, Alessandra di Crespo, Eddie Isles, and Andrew
Carvana Galicia
Hosts And Creators
Manuel Delia
John Sweeney
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