Yorgen Fenech, the main suspect in the Daphne Caruana Galizia assassination, was in possession of a copy of state witness Melvin Theuma’s draft pardon on the eve of his arrest, police have confirmed.

Speaking under questioning from lawyer Jason Azzopardi during today’s sitting of the compilation of evidence against Fenech, Inspector Keith Arnaud revealed that they found a copy of the document on Fenech’s phone.

Fenech told investigators that it was then-OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri who had sent the copy. The version sent was the final version, Arnaud confirmed.

Arnaud confirmed that Fenech and Schembri did communicate by WhatsApp and phone call that evening. He revealed that in one message, Fenech expressly asked Schembri to provide a copy of the draft pardon.

However, Arnaud said it is unclear who actually sent the photo to Fenech’s phone.

Theuma was granted a pardon in exchange for providing incriminating evidence proving Fenech’s involvement in the murder. 

Fenech has long claimed that Schembri was the real mastermind behind the murder. Theuma did in fact name Schembri as a mastermind in a handwritten letter discovered within his evidence box. However, he has told the court that he cannot say for certain that Schembri was involved.

Schembri has been under investigation for his potential role in the murder ever since Fenech’s arrest. 

Schembri, along with former Deputy Police Commissioner Silvio Valletta, allegedly leaked a wealth of information on murder suspect Vince Muscat’s potential pardon, information that their phones were wiretapped, and that former Economy Minister Chris Cardona’s number was discovered on the phone of one of Caruana Galizia’s killers.

It has also been confirmed by inspectors that Muscat, Schembri, and Fenech had a shared WhatsApp group between themselves. There are also roughly 800 WhatsApp messages between Fenech and Schembri.

Schembri is also linked to an alleged frame-up attempt on Cardona. Doctor Adrian Vella has confirmed that he passed on documents between Schembri and Fenech while the latter was under police bail.

Lovin Malta has since revealed that new recordings of state witness Melvin Theuma that were taken by a Dutch national reference Schembri’s role in the murder.

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