Lead investigator Keith Arnaud returned to the witness stand this afternoon, walking jurors through how the investigation into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination evolved in the years following the murder.Much of the afternoon focused on how investigators gradually identified Melvin Theuma as the alleged middleman in the plot, as well as the evidence provided by convicted hitman Vince Muscat.Arnaud told the court that Muscat’s account matched evidence investigators had already gathered, including details about the group’s hiding places, surveillance of Daphne Caruana Galizia, the white rental vehicle used during preparations and the mobile phones used to carry out the bombing.According to Arnaud, Muscat told investigators the plot began after Alfred Degiorgio met Melvin Theuma at Busy Bee in Msida to discuss “a particular job” — the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Muscat said the group agreed to carry out the killing for €150,000, with the money allegedly split equally between Alfred Degiorgio, George Degiorgio and Vince Muscat after an initial deposit was collected.The court also heard how the group allegedly carried out surveillance on Daphne to learn her daily routine before the attack. Arnaud said Muscat claimed Melvin Theuma provided information about places she regularly visited, including a coffee shop in Naxxar.As the investigation progressed, police shifted their attention to Theuma.Rather than arresting him immediately over the murder investigation, Arnaud explained investigators deliberately built a separate money laundering case against him. This strategy, he said, allowed police to arrest Theuma without revealing they suspected him of involvement in Daphne’s murder while giving investigators the opportunity to search his properties for potential evidence.Arnaud said investigators believed Theuma had been secretly recording conversations, but did not know where those recordings were being kept. Arresting him too early, he told jurors, could have jeopardised the investigation if police failed to recover them.The planned arrest was eventually brought forward from 16th November 2019 to 14th November after investigators became concerned that Theuma was arranging something that could compromise the operation.Following his arrest, Theuma told investigators he was ready to speak about “the case, the money, everything” and arrived carrying what became known as the “ice cream tub”.The container was opened in the presence of a magistrate and was found to contain three mobile phones, a voice recorder, USB sticks, physical photographs of Signal chats and a photograph showing Theuma alongside former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri.Arnaud said Theuma later sought a presidential pardon in exchange for revealing everything he knew about the murder, including who carried it out, who paid him and how the money was passed on.The court heard that once the pardon was granted on 19th November 2019, Theuma began providing investigators with detailed information about the case.Arnaud also testified that Signal messages recovered by investigators referred to Yorgen Fenech and warned Theuma to be careful after Fenech allegedly learned police were focusing on the Ta’ Maksar group and Żebbuġ as part of their investigation.Arnaud also described Melvin Theuma as becoming increasingly anxious as the investigation progressed, particularly after police questioned Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu.According to Arnaud, although Theuma had never revealed Yorgen Fenech’s identity to the hitmen, they knew he was the intermediary who had passed on instructions relating to the murder plot.“Vince had no one to expose other than him,” Arnaud told the court.Arnaud said investigators believe this growing fear prompted Theuma to begin photographing messages and secretly recording conversations with Yorgen Fenech. According to the lead investigator, Theuma wanted evidence showing he had not acted alone if anything happened to him.The court also heard that while Theuma was not employed by Fenech, he viewed him as someone far more powerful than himself, which investigators believe contributed to his anxiety.Arnaud said investigators also recovered documents that they believe corroborated Theuma’s version of events.Among them was a handwritten receipt signed by lawyer William Cuschieri acknowledging money that Theuma said he had handed over to cover the Degiorgio brothers’ legal fees. According to Arnaud, the receipt was found in Theuma’s kitchen on top of the extractor hood above the stove.Investigators also recovered a separate document recording cash that Theuma allegedly received from Yorgen Fenech.Arnaud told the court that Theuma kept the receipts to demonstrate to Fenech that the money was being passed on to the Degiorgio brothers and that he was not keeping any of it himself.According to the lead investigator, almost €500,000 was allegedly transferred in this way to cover legal fees, food and other expenses for the brothers.The prosecution displayed the documents to the jury as Arnaud explained how investigators believe they supported Theuma’s account of events.Melvin Theuma’s testimony then turned to what he described as the financing and planning of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.According to police testimony, Theuma claimed Yorgen Fenech told him ““I need to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia because she knows something about my uncle,” before instructing him to make contact with Alfred Degiorgio to commission the assassination.Theuma said Degiorgio agreed to carry out the murder for €150,000, a figure he claims Fenech accepted.He also testified that plans were temporarily put on hold when the 2017 general election was called.During that period, Theuma said he was contacted by Yorgen Fenech about a meeting at Castille, where he allegedly met Keith Schembri and was receiving monthly €890 payments despite never reporting for work.After Labour’s election victory, Theuma alleged Fenech handed him a brown envelope containing €150,000, which he said was the payment intended for the murder plot. Theuma testified that he kept the money until the assassination was carried out, adding that an initial €30,000 deposit had already been paid.The session ended shortly afterwards, with Arnaud set to return to the witness stand on tomorrow morning to continue his testimony.•