When was the bomb placed in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s car?

The main news in today’s papers is the start of the compilation of evidence in connection with the murder of Lawyer Carmel Chircop. Nevertheless, In this compilation of evidence, we are being told about the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

This time round the person who is testifying in the Chircop case is Superintendent Keith Arnaud. He bases his evidence on information that he declared was given to the police by Vince Muscat who has admitted to being involved in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia and has meanwhile been sentenced to 15 years in prison.  

Vince Muscat’s confession has led to the arrest of the Agius brothers, known as tal-Maksar and Jamie Vella. Yet, did the evidence given by Arnaud as reported by The Times of Malta clear the air about what precisely happened in Bidnija between 15 and 16 October 2017? In my view, it has made the situation even more confusing. Why?

Already, there were two contrasting versions regarding the time the bomb was planted in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s car. The first version is that the bomb was planted at around 1.45 am on Monday 16th October 2017. This was stated by Bonini in his book L’Isola Assassina: La sfida di Daphne al cuore corrotto dell’Europa.

We then have a second version. Stephen Grey for Reuters reported and I quote that “In the early hours of Oct. 16, police have said in court, the two Degiorgios and Muscat went to Bidnija to plant the bomb.” Therefore, according to this version, the bomb or bombs, which killed Daphne Caruana Galizia, was or were placed in the car early on Monday morning, without specifying any given time. In other words, by the words “early hours”, it could imply any time between midnight and dawn.

Now, we have a third version, this time given by Arnaud in court. Arnaud wants us to believe that the bomb was not placed in the early hours of Monday morning but on Sunday evening. Definitely, he wants us to believe that this bomb was placed before mid-night. At least, this is what The Times reported on this matter.

Therefore, according to this version the bomb was put in the car on Sunday evening, for sure before midnight, because, according to this report in the Times, it was detonated on the next day. And the bomb was detonated on Monday 16th October. This contrasts with what was published by both Grey and Bonini who state that the bomb was placed on Monday and their versions were practically based on evidence that Muscat gave to the police and what they had been told by Matthew Caruana Galizia.

Why do Arnaud and the police want us to now believe that the bomb was put in the car on late Sunday evening and not on Monday morning? What has happened in the meantime to make the police change versions?

Why are there three versions now? Already, the second version covers a wide timespan. Today, we have a completely new version. Therefore, at what time precisely was the bomb  placed? On late Sunday evening, at around 2 am of Monday or a bit later on that same Monday morning? The placing of the bomb is extremely important.

Is this change in narrative accidental or intentional? If it is intentional, who is the person or persons that the police are trying to protect in this instance?