He said that he was handed €150,000 by Fenech to give to Alfred Degiorgio for the hit, explaining that the wealthy businessman feared Caruana Galizia would leak information.

Theuma further testified that Fenech’s go ahead for the murder came just after the 2017 general election and that the murder suspect bet €150,000 that Labour would win. He doubled his money.

The middleman described mounting pressure, paranoia and remorse as the investigations into the murder proceeded. He also feared that he could suffer the same fate as Daphne.

Theuma began recording conversations with Fenech and said he experienced suicidal thoughts. He even testified to being close to ending his life. However, since the hitmen had no knowledge of Fenech’s involvement, he was worried that the truth would die with him and that “Yorgen would celebrate”.

Meanwhile, from prison, the Degiorgio brothers would continue to pressure Theuma for more payments which both he and Fenech would carry out, including €30,000 for lawyers, €60,000 for bail, and weekly prison payments.

He described feeling betrayed by Fenech and then-OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri whom he mentioned a couple of times in his testimony, linking him to the plot.

Theuma explained that in 2018, he woke up to messages on his phone from Fenech. Theuma proceeded to call the alleged mastermind of the assassination and told him “you should have never got me involved in this”.

He said Fenech sent him a message: “go and look for Ta’ Maksar because il-Koħħu [hitman Vince Muscat] is revealing that the bomb was prepared by them”.

George and Alfred Degiorgio, along with Vince Muscat, are currently serving prison sentences for their role in planting the bomb that killed the journalist. Muscat is expected to be a key witness in the upcoming trial.

The trial is suspended until 9am on Friday when court expert Martin Bajada will present a full report.