One of the men charged with the murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia pleaded guilty Tuesday.
Vince Muscat was one of three men — the others are Alfred and George Degiorgio — accused of procuring, planting and detonating the car bomb that killed Caruana Galizia near her home in October 2017. A fourth man, prominent businessman Yorgen Fenech, has been charged with organizing and financing the killing. All four had denied involvement with the murder.
However on Tuesday, Muscat changed his plea.
According to the Times of Malta, Muscat’s lawyer told the court that his client admitted to all charges. Muscat said “no need” when the judge asked whether he wanted the charges he was admitting to read out to the court.
According to local media, Muscat had been trying to secure a pardon or be given a reduced sentence in exchange for information on the Caruana Galizia case and other serious crimes, including an attempted heist of a branch of HSBC in 2010 in which he was arrested and charged. His request for a presidential pardon was rejected by the Cabinet earlier this year.
