Bombshell Verdict: Malta Jury Acquits Alleged Mastermind in Caruana Galizia Murder

Maltese businessman Yorgen Fenech was on Wednesday found not guilty by a jury in Malta of charges related to the 2017 car bomb killing of investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. Caruana Galizia's assassination, which involved a car bomb near her home on October 16, 2017, deeply shocked Europe, triggered protests that led to the resignation of a prime minister, and exposed a pervasive culture of impunity within Malta, the European Union's smallest member state.

Fenech, a prominent Maltese businessman, had been indicted in 2021 on charges of complicity and criminal conspiracy. He was linked to a consortium that won a controversial contract with the Maltese government to construct a power station. Prosecutors had accused Fenech of masterminding the killing, alleging that he ordered and paid for it. However, Fenech pleaded not guilty, and the jury on Wednesday delivered a not guilty verdict on both counts. He was the last of approximately half a dozen individuals charged over the plot to be prosecuted. Following the verdict, Fenech left the Valletta courtroom amidst a chaotic scene, with hecklers shouting as he entered a waiting car, though he made no comment.

Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, was targeted for her rigorous anti-corruption investigations. She had reported extensively on suspected corruption involving political and business figures in Malta, including members of then-Prime Minister Joseph Muscat's inner circle, whom she accused of having offshore companies revealed by the Panama Papers. Her reporting also scrutinized opposition figures and Maltese business leaders. At the time of her death, Caruana Galizia was facing more than 40 libel lawsuits. An independent inquiry into her killing, published in 2021, concluded that the Maltese state "has to bear responsibility" for the assassination due to a culture of impunity that emanated from the highest levels of government.

Other individuals have been prosecuted over the killing. In 2022, George Degiorgio and his brother Alfred Degiorgio pleaded guilty to carrying out the killing and were each sentenced to 40 years in prison. In 2025, Jamie Vella and Robert Agius were sentenced to life in prison, the maximum possible penalty, after being convicted of complicity in the murder for supplying the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia. Another man, Vincent Muscat, pleaded guilty in 2021 for his role in the slaying and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Melvin Theuma, a taxi driver who admitted acting as a middleman, was granted a presidential pardon in 2019 in exchange for his testimony.

Caruana Galizia's children have been at the forefront in demanding accountability and justice for her death. Her sons were present in the courtroom when the verdict was read out but left without commenting. In a statement later posted to Facebook, the family said the verdict denied Caruana Galizia the "justice she deserves." The statement emphasized, "Nine years after Daphne’s brutal assassination, the institutional failures that enabled her murder remain unaddressed and unreformed. Lasting justice means no person should ever face the same risks again." It concluded by stating, "Our country failed to protect Daphne. It owes it to her to prevent other lives being lost." No cameras were allowed in the courtroom, as is customary in Maltese criminal trials.