“Before murdering my mother, Yorgen Fenech formed a consortium of evil men to buy the newspaper she worked for, for the sole reason of cutting off her main source of income. When that didn’t work, he moved on to hiring hitmen,” Caruana Galizia wrote.

Times of Malta revealed today that Fenech, the former CEO of the Tumas Group, had in 2016 inquired about purchasing The Malta Independent along with hotelier Silvio Debono.

A spokesperson for the db Group confirmed that two exploratory meetings were held but the plan was dumped because it wasn’t financially viable and the media sector wasn’t part of the group’s strategic growth targets.

A spokesman for The Independent told The Times it was common knowledge in media circles that there had been an approach by Fenech to purchase the publication but said there had been no mention whatsoever of Caruana Galizia or former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri during the negotiations.

Caruana Galizia used to write two weekly columns on the Malta Independent and the late journalist’s family members confirmed with The Times that this was her main source of income.