MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO MURDER OF MALTESE SCRIBE CARUANA GALIZIA

Vince Muscat, one of three men accused of murdering Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, changed his plea to guilty in a Valletta courtroom on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, Bertrand Borg reported for Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa).

Muscat told the court that he was admitting to all charges, in a shock development that could prove crucial in the high-profile murder case. Muscat is one of three men accused of planting and detonating the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia in her car in October 2017.

A fourth man, business tycoon Yorgen Fenech, stands accused of having paid the three men to carry out the assassination. Prosecutors told the court that they were filing a joint application with Muscat's lawyer for sentencing - an indication that Muscat has negotiated a plea bargain agreement.

As Muscat registered his admission, police officers raided an undisclosed location and arrested three men believed to have supplied the bomb used to kill Caruana Galizia, Times of Malta reported. Muscat is understood to have information linking those three men to the Caruana Galizia murder as well as other gangland killings in Malta, including the 2015 murder of lawyer Carmel Chircop.

Times of Malta also reported on Tuesday that the Maltese government had quietly agreed on Monday to grant Muscat a presidential pardon in exchange for information about Chircop's murder.

WEEKLY FEATURE : BONNER DYTOC SHOWS THE WAY IN STOCK PLAY