Keith Schembri told jurors that he visited Yorgen Fenech’s ranch both before and after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder, as prosecutors questioned him about his relationship with the businessman accused of commissioning the assassination.The former OPM chief of staff said he could not recall exactly how many times he went to the ranch, but said he began visiting before the 2017 general election and continued after it.Asked directly whether he had gone there after Caruana Galizia was murdered in October 2017, Schembri replied: “Yes, even after the murder.”Schembri was testifying in Fenech’s trial by jury, where he was asked about his friendship with the accused, Melvin Theuma, and others he had seen at the ranch.He told the court that he and Fenech had known each other since their teens, saying he was 14 and Fenech was 12 when they first became friends.Schembri said they lost touch for some time but later reconnected, including after he became chief of staff at the Office of the Prime Minister in 2013.“We would chat over WhatsApp or Signal, like I would speak to many others,” he said, adding that they discussed family and business. Sometimes they would speak daily, he said, while at other times weeks or months would pass.Asked about Melvin Theuma, Schembri said he met him once at his office and once at Fenech’s ranch, though he insisted he did not know who Theuma was at the time.He said someone at the ranch pointed Theuma out to him and said: “That’s Melvin Theuma.”Prosecutors also asked Schembri about others he had seen at the ranch. He said he remembered seeing former deputy police commissioner Silvio Valletta there, but could not recall other names.Schembri said Fenech hosted “many businesspeople and politicians” at the ranch, but when asked who they were, he replied that he did not remember.Fenech denies charges of complicity in Caruana Galizia’s murder and involvement in a criminal organisation.•