Yorgen Fenech has claimed that Keith Schembri sent him two letters through doctor Adrian Vella in the days before he was charged with complicity in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.Testifying in his own defence, Fenech said one of the letters reached him at home during his first day on police bail. According to Fenech, his wife told him that Schembri had sent it through Vella.He said a second letter was given to him on 24th November 2019, shortly before lunch, while his lawyers Gianluca Caruana Curran and Marion Camilleri were with him.Fenech claimed that Schembri had told him he would send a “meatier version” of the first letter.He said he did not like what he saw when he read it, telling the court that it “didn’t sound right”.According to Fenech, he then asked for a burner phone to call Schembri. He claimed Schembri told him: “You have nothing to worry about. Trust me.”Fenech said he started going through the document with Schembri, but eventually became frustrated after a few pages.He told the court that he later realised what was happening, but still had hope that Schembri would not act against him.“He played me,” Fenech said.Fenech claimed police later accused him of changing his version of events, but insisted that the letter did not reflect his own version.The letter has previously been described in court proceedings as a document that allegedly sought to pin the murder on former minister Chris Cardona.Fenech also rejected the suggestion that he was trying to flee Malta when he was intercepted aboard his yacht Gio in November 2019.He told the court that the thought of escaping had never crossed his mind, saying there were no legal restrictions preventing him from travelling at the time.Fenech said the boat’s movements were fully traceable through standard maritime systems and that Valletta Port Control had been notified before the vessel left.He also said the narrative that he had tried to abscond had hurt him, insisting that his aim at the time was to regain his state of mind and get clean.Fenech also claimed he was badly treated during his first month in prison, saying he spent 23 hours a day in solitary confinement with prison clothes and foam on the floor instead of a mattress.He said he took no drugs in prison and was “cured” of his cocaine addiction from the moment he gave his police statement, although he said he continued testing positive for cocaine for 32 days.Fenech denies charges of complicity in Caruana Galizia’s murder and involvement in a criminal organisation.•