"I’m preparing champagne": Tycoon accused of paying hitmen to murder Maltese journalist "couldn’t wait" for her death, court hears

07 August 2026 , 20:47

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The businessman accused of hiring hitmen to murder journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was eager for the killing to occur and once texted from his boat saying he was “preparing champagne” to celebrate, a jury in Malta was told.

Yorgen Fenech, the 44-year-old heir to a property empire that includes several Hilton hotels, is on trial in Malta for complicity in the murder of Caruana Galizia. She was killed in a car bombing in October 2017 after publishing a series of damaging revelations about senior politicians that triggered a snap general election.

The key witness for the prosecution, a taxi driver who claims to have acted as a middleman between Fenech and the three men already convicted of accepting €150,000 (£128,000) to carry out the killing, testified on Friday.

Melvin Theuma, who has been under witness protection since agreeing to testify in exchange for a pardon, stated that Fenech instructed him to contact a known criminal to arrange the assassination to protect his uncle Raymond Fenech, the head of the family business.

“Bring him here, I need him to kill Daphne because she’s going to publish information about Uncle Ray,” Theuma alleged Fenech had told him.

Theuma has previously testified that the explanation evolved over time, and the hit was actually intended to stop revelations about Yorgen himself.

The conversation occurred in April 2017. The two men were friends, having known each other for years, although Theuma told the jury it was not an equal relationship.

“He’s a lion and I’m a mosquito,” Theuma said about the accused.

The taxi driver, who had cultivated a friendship with Fenech over a shared interest in horseracing and betting, is viewed by the prosecution as essential for securing a conviction. He has given police numerous recordings of conversations with Fenech after the murder.

Before testifying, Theuma needed certification of his fitness to give evidence, as he had previously attempted to take his own life. In 2020, after securing a pardon, he ingested acid and slit his throat. He will be allowed to give evidence seated, with his back to Fenech and his lawyers, having previously complained of intimidation.

He began his testimony by apologizing to the victim’s family, saying: “My cross was too much to bear; I can’t imagine what theirs was like.”

Following Fenech’s instructions, Theuma said he went to the docks in Marsa, where the hitmen, brothers George and Alfred Degiorgio and their associate Vincent Muscat, used a warehouse known as the potato shed as a base.

“Alfred got into my taxi and I told him ‘I have someone who wants to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia’.

“He asked if the person could pay, and I said yes, of course.”

“Alfred got into my taxi and I told him ‘I have someone who wants to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia’.

“He asked if the person could pay, and I said yes, of course.”

Theuma said he never informed the hitmen who had sent him. He told the court Fenech agreed to the price but later asked him to call off the attack after Malta’s then prime minister, Joseph Muscat, announced a snap general election. Instead, he asked Theuma to place a €150,000 bet for him on Muscat winning a second term.

When Muscat was re-elected in June 2017 with a landslide victory, Theuma said Fenech called him that night. “He sounded tipsy. He told me to go ahead with the Daphne job. I didn’t do anything, he sounded drunk.”

A few days later, he gave Fenech his winnings from the bet – €300,000, minus a commission. Nothing more was said about Caruana Galizia. But a few days later, Fenech called him in and handed him an envelope filled with cash. “I asked him, ‘What’s this?’ He said: ‘It’s the €150,000 to have Daphne killed.’”

The hitmen received a €30,000 deposit and started monitoring the journalist’s movements. Theuma received a burner phone to communicate with them. The witness stated he took the phone with him on a family holiday to Disneyland, and that Fenech wanted to ensure he had not left Malta without it. The businessman grew impatient as time passed.

“Yorgen would ask me every few days: ‘When will they kill her?’ Once, he was on his boat and texted me to say he was preparing champagne just in case it happened.”

Theuma said Fenech assisted in tracking Caruana Galizia’s routine, identifying a café and restaurant she often visited.

The witness broke down while describing learning about the death from the television news. Wiping his eyes, he said: “I was living a normal life, I didn’t want for anything. Then I turned on the TV and saw that Daphne was dead. My life ended. When she was killed, my life was blown up.”

He also revealed he had been in regular contact via text with Caruana Galizia’s sons, Matthew and Paul. He said: “I was involved in their mother’s murder, and they speak to me. They tell me I will feel better after the trial. But I know I won’t. The remorse is too great.”

Fenech, who is on trial for complicity in the voluntary homicide of Caruana Galizia, denies the charges. The trial continues.