Family of murdered Maltese journalist welcomes convictions

A jury last week found Jamie Vella, 42, and Robert Agius, 41, guilty of providing the military-grade explosive used in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, 53, outside her family home in October 2017.

Caruana Galizia used her website, Running Commentary, to expose alleged corruption among Malta’s elite and the former prime minister’s inner circle.

On the steps of Malta’s Criminal Court on Friday her son Matthew Caruana Galizia said: “Now we need to make sure we finish off what my mother started. We need to ensure there is justice for the corruption she revealed.”

Three men are already serving prison sentences after admitting their roles in planting and detonating the bomb. Prosecutors are seeking life sentences for the men, which in Malta means a prisoner remains in jail until they die.

Vella and Agius, members of the local Ta’ Maksar gang, were also tried for shooting dead a lawyer, alongside two others. All but Agius were convicted of the 2015 murder of Carmel Chircop, 51, following a six-week trial.

For more about the case, listen to the limited series My Mother's Murder from Tortoise Investigates.

• This article was amended on 9 June 2025. An earlier version referred to "alleged corruption among Malta’s elite and the former president's inner circle". This should have read: "the former prime minister's inner circle".

Photograph by Jonathan Borg/AP Photo