Lead investigator Keith Arnaud spent the morning on the witness stand, giving jurors a detailed account of the investigation into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia as his testimony in Yorgen Fenech’s trial got underway.Arnaud, who was heading the Homicide Department as an inspector in October 2017, told the court police were informed of the explosion in Bidnija shortly before 3pm on 16th October 2017. Investigators immediately secured and preserved the crime scene, where they confirmed the victim was journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.One of the investigation’s first priorities was determining how the bomb had been detonated. Police sought assistance from the FBI, Europol and forensic experts from the Netherlands while deciding that nothing at the crime scene would be moved until international specialists had examined it.Despite the extensive damage, investigators quickly concluded the explosive device had been placed inside the vehicle rather than underneath it. A crater in the road helped identify the exact point of the explosion, allowing investigators to reconstruct the vehicle’s path after the blast.The court also heard that Matthew Caruana Galizia told investigators his mother had briefly returned inside the house after getting into her car because she had forgotten her chequebook before driving off again.Arnaud said investigators soon concluded that whoever carried out the attack had been monitoring Daphne’s movements.“It was clear that whoever coordinated the attack was watching the victim because they knew she was inside the vehicle,” he told jurors.Police identified two possible surveillance locations overlooking Bidnija: one near Victoria Lines and another at L-Għarusa tal-Mosta near the MCAST campus.A resident living near Victoria Lines later told investigators he had repeatedly seen a small car with a registration beginning “QZ” parked in the area in the days leading up to the assassination, including on the morning of the explosion. The vehicle disappeared after the blast.When investigators searched the area, they discovered what Arnaud described as “the perfect vantage point”, offering a clear view of Daphne’s gate, driveway and the road where the bomb exploded. A discarded cigarette found at the location was collected for forensic analysis, with DNA testing confirming it belonged to a man.Investigators also extracted data from Daphne’s damaged mobile phone, examined CCTV footage from roads leading into and out of Bidnija and confirmed the bomb used in the assassination contained TNT.Arnaud then outlined how telecommunications evidence became a major breakthrough in the investigation.Working alongside FBI experts, police analysed thousands of mobile phone records after collecting data from local telecommunications providers. Although the Vodafone mast closest to the crime scene was offline due to scheduled maintenance, investigators were able to trace nearby devices through surrounding cell towers.Police eventually identified a pair of SIM cards that communicated exclusively with each other and had been activated around the same time in 2017. One SIM card was found inside the electronic triggering device recovered from the wreckage, while the other connected through mobile masts around the Grand Harbour.The court heard that investigators believe the devices were cheap burner phones used almost exclusively to communicate with each other. In the weeks leading up to the murder, they repeatedly appeared in the Bidnija area before disappearing from the network immediately after the explosion.Arnaud said investigators established that an SMS was sent at 2:58pm on 16th October 2017, the exact moment the bomb exploded. An FBI expert later reconstructed the shattered triggering device from fragments recovered at the scene and confirmed the message activated the bomb remotely.Investigators also concluded that the second phone was likely being operated from a vessel at sea after analysing how it moved between mobile masts around the Grand Harbour.The court further heard that investigators identified two additional mobile numbers that also appeared in the Bidnija area on the day of the murder, communicated only with each other and went silent shortly after 3pm.Arnaud’s testimony is expected to continue after the jury returns from its break at 11.30am.Lovin Malta is reporting live from the courtroom and will continue to bring you the latest updates from the trial.•