Sources: A Text Sent From Sea Led to Malta Journalist's Death

3 men are charged with Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 6, 2017 11:51 AM CST
Sources: Text Triggered Bomb That Killed Malta Journalist
This April 4, 2016 file photo shows Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.   (AP Photo/Jon Borg, files)

Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia's life ended via a bomb and a text message sent from sea, sources with knowledge of the investigation say. A man is suspected of placing the TNT bomb beneath the driver's seat of Galizia's car in the early hours of Oct. 16, per the sources, who share the alleged chain of events: Alfred Degiorgio, 53, then kept watch on Galizia's Bidnija home, finally calling his brother at 3pm, reports Malta Today. George Degiorgio, 55, who was reportedly at sea on his boat, then sent an SMS message to an electronic device with a SIM card that was attached to the bomb. It detonated, killing Galizia, whose son described finding her body parts scattered about the street.

The brothers and a third man believed to have acted as a lookout have now been charged with murder, organized crime, and criminal use of explosives, report the Guardian and the Times of Malta. All three pleaded not guilty Tuesday. The men were among 10 suspects arrested on Monday. The seven others have since been released on bail, including Adrian Agius and his brother. Malta Today explains Galizia previously wrote about Agius, who was co-director of a supermarket chain that was caught up in a fraud scandal a few years ago. (More journalists killed stories.)

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