Daphne Caruana Galizia killed in car explosion
TMI columnist had just left her Bidnija home when explosion occurred Rental car blown off the road and ended up in a nearby field Bomb was likely not inside cabin – forensic expert FBI experts coming to Malta to investigate murder – Muscat This is a r
Journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed yesterday when the car she was driving exploded in Bidnija, limits of Mosta.
The accident in Bidnija Road was reported to the police after 3pm.
Caruana Galizia had just left her home and was driving towards Mosta when the rented car, a Peugeot 108, exploded, ending up in a field nearby. She died on site.
Her husband Peter was seen on the site of the incident.
TVM reported that one of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s sons heard the explosion and reported it to the police.
It is understood that the explosion was extremely powerful and sent the car flying into a nearby field.
At first it was unclear whether Caruana Galizia was the victim of the car bomb attack, but things became clearer when the Prime Minister tweeted that he would hold an urgent press briefing.
At the same time, several police and army units were arriving on the scene in Bidnija.
Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi, a former Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit and Police Commissioner Laurence Cutajar were among the top officers on site.
The area was cordoned off by members of the police forensic unit.
In comments to Net News, forensic expert Anthony Abela Medici said that the bomb appears not to have been inside the car. He also said that the explosive material might still be collected as evidence. He said that investigations still have to confirm if a remote control was used. If so, there might be the possibility of finding parts of it.
“The size of the crater shows the extensive amount of explosive used,” he said.
Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, who was duty magistrate and is leading the inquiry, was also seen on the site. TVM later reported that the magistrate had given orders for foreign experts to be brought in to go through the evidence on site. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat later in the evening announced that FBI experts were being brought over to investigate the murder.
Later in the evening, Peter Caruana Galizia, the husband of Daphne Caruana Galizia, as well as other members of her family filed a court application requesting that Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera abstain from continuing to conduct the magisterial inquiry into the journalist’s murder, and that another magistrate be appointed.
The application, filed by lawyers Jason Azzopardi, Karol Aquilina and Therese Comodini Cachia on behalf of the deceased’s family, noted that Scerri Herrera was on a number of occasions the subject of political and professional criticism by Daphne Caruana Galizia, “and as such Magistrate Scerri Herrera, in her personal capacity, had launched judicial procedures against the deceased regarding comments she had written.”
This is why, the application read, it is not correct for Magistrate Scerri Herrera to continue in her role as duty magistrate on this case, and as such there is a conflict of interest that can prejudice the inquiry.
“The applicants have no trust in Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, and do not believe that she can conduct a magisterial inquiry through the seriousness and impartiality that is needed in the search for truth behind the brutal murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.”
The application was also sent to the Chief Justice.
Soon after the attack the social media was flooded with messages of condemnation by fans and critics alike. A vigil was held in Sliema in the evening (read separate story on page 5).