WEBVTT - Episode 6: Car Bomb Culture 0:00:00.640 --> 0:00:04.840 A note to listeners, this episode contains a reference to suicide. 0:00:09.119 --> 0:00:11.879 The escalation in the number of criminals being murdered by 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:14.200 each other gives us some idea of the surge and 0:00:14.320 --> 0:00:18.400 growth of the underworld. An underworld of this nature, which 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:21.760 is now moved into contract killings and the elimination of rivals, 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.119 will definitely have a network in the country's power structures, 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:26.800 because the two go together. 0:00:33.560 --> 0:00:37.879 Early twenty eighteen, a few months after Dafnese murder, the 0:00:37.960 --> 0:00:43.360 assassins Vincent de kof Moscat, Chinese George de Georgio and 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:47.080 Alfred de Bin de Georgio are in Malta's Cordine prison 0:00:47.360 --> 0:00:51.839 awaiting trial. So far, none of them are talking. It's 0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:56.960 an investigative dead end. Mister Alleged Mastermind, the powerful, wealthy 0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:01.960 individual who allegedly ordered Daphnese murder, still seems invulnerable. He 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.759 is not even considered a suspect, and it appears that, 0:01:04.800 --> 0:01:08.480 thanks to Alleged Mastermind's close friendships with corrupt police officers 0:01:08.560 --> 0:01:12.720 and senior politicians, every detail of the police investigation is 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:18.399 known to him. He seems invincible. That leaves this guy, 0:01:18.760 --> 0:01:23.120 our middleman, Melvin Toma, the taxi driver, Dodgy Bucky and 0:01:23.200 --> 0:01:27.160 occasional long Shark, who recruited the assassins, oversaw the murder 0:01:27.760 --> 0:01:30.280 and reports back to mister alleged Mastermind. 0:01:31.319 --> 0:01:34.240 Melvin the Middleman is the only member of this criminal 0:01:34.360 --> 0:01:39.920 enterprise who knows mister Alleged Mastermind's true identity, the only 0:01:39.959 --> 0:01:45.120 person who can connect mister Alleged Mastermind to Japanese murder, 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:49.760 and Melvin the Middleman is still free, at least from 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:53.640 the authorities, but he's far from free from the rest 0:01:53.680 --> 0:02:03.000 of the gang, and his obligations are only increasing. From 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.840 iHeart podcast topic studios in Vespucci, I'm. 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:09.800 John Sweeney and I'm Manuel Delia and. 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:22.639 This is Crooks Everywhere, Episode six, Carbon Culture. On this morning, 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.680 Melvin the Middleman is paying one of his regular visits 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:29.960 to a modest home in Marsa, the hometown of the killers. 0:02:30.480 --> 0:02:33.240 These visits may not look like much, but they are 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:37.040 a window into this world, a world where the assassination 0:02:37.200 --> 0:02:41.200 of a journalist, where Daphne's cold blooded murder is possible, 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:46.919 and in its way, this visit will be a masterclass 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:49.240 in power and how to exert it. 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.040 So on this day, Melvin de Middleman is paying a 0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:56.680 family visit, but it's far from friendly. The following is 0:02:56.680 --> 0:03:00.600 a dramatization based on Melvin de Middlemanto Ma's court testimony. 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:04.520 It streamlines multiple events that took place during this period. 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:11.720 The man who answers the door hurries him inside. Melvin 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.080 the Middleman mustn't be seen in front of the house 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:20.440 for long. Melvin reassures him, Hat, Marani, no one is 0:03:20.440 --> 0:03:24.760 watching me. He's wrong about that. As it happens, the 0:03:24.760 --> 0:03:28.120 man whose house this is is Mario de Georgio, the 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:31.240 older brother of two of the killers, Chinese George de 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:35.440 Georgio and Alfred de Bin de Georgio. Mario de Georgio 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.880 is in his early sixties, wears glasses and looks like 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:42.360 an ordinary pensioner, But like the whole family, he's not 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:43.560 someone you want to upset. 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:49.920 The oldest to Giorgio brother has been officially registered as 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:52.840 out of work for the last fourteen years, and he 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:56.160 seems to be living comfortably. Melvin the Middleman says that 0:03:56.240 --> 0:04:00.480 he sees gold chains and a diamond studied rolex during 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:05.280 his visits. Because Daphne's actual killers are locked up, Melvin 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:09.200 alleges that Mario has been designated as the killer's official 0:04:09.240 --> 0:04:14.320 representative and spokesman on the outside. It's what Daphne would 0:04:14.360 --> 0:04:18.760 call a moral faminalism in action. Greed, power and criminality 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:24.400 channels through family ties and family loyalty, in this case, 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.560 family ties that allow the killers to reach through the 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:32.920 prison walls and continue shaping events in the outside world. 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:38.479 Even if the older the Georgia brother, Mario does not 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:40.960 have the same criminal history as his two younger brothers, 0:04:41.480 --> 0:04:44.440 he is now their eyes and ears, managing some of 0:04:44.480 --> 0:04:49.000 their sensitive business arrangements, like this visit from Melvin, the middleman. 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:55.600 Whatever happens this house called must remain completely see. Mario 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:59.440 de Georgia asks Melvin if he has the afaid things 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:03.560 and Monty they agreed upon deliveries. Melvin nods and begins 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:06.600 pulling out parcels from his bag, placing them on the table. 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:14.320 The food comes first, parcels of rabbit, traditional Maltese cheeses 0:05:14.600 --> 0:05:18.560 and delicious to revise steaks Chinese. George and Alfred de 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:22.000 Bean may be behind bars on murder charges, but that's 0:05:22.000 --> 0:05:24.320 no reason for them to eat bland prison food like 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:28.400 ordinary criminals, and Melvin doesn't just need to provide the 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:32.159 prison picnics. He's expected personally to foot the bill for 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:32.640 this too. 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:37.240 If Melvin the Middleman finds all this humiliating, the switch 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:41.400 from hiring Japanese killers to acting as their butler, he 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:42.479 doesn't show it. 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.280 But steaks and rabbit are and the only thing Melvin 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:49.719 the Middleman has been asked to bring on this visit. 0:05:50.560 --> 0:05:56.760 Mario asks if he has the other stuff. Melvin jumps 0:05:56.760 --> 0:06:02.279 to and passes over the first bulging anth. It's backed 0:06:02.279 --> 0:06:06.719 with big denomination banknotes, the euro equivalent of thousands of dollars. 0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:13.840 Maria de Georgia Counct one two, three thousand. That's all there. 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:22.480 Japanese Killers have let it be known that while they're 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:26.920 behind bars, they also expect certain other things to be 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:29.920 taken care of. All three of them are family men 0:06:30.240 --> 0:06:34.120 with partners and children, so weekly donation has been requested 0:06:34.160 --> 0:06:37.920 to pay for family expenses, everything from private school fees 0:06:37.960 --> 0:06:41.200 to health insurance, all on top of the original fee 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:45.320 they were paid for the murder. This regular donation has 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:49.200 got steadily larger as the weeks have gone by, and 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:52.479 once again this is all coming out of Melvin the 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.000 Middleman's own pocket. 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.880 Now, the second envelope of banknotes is handed over, this 0:06:59.040 --> 0:07:01.560 one even larger. This is to cover some of the 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:06.400 murderer's legal fees tens of thousands of dollars. The kind 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:09.800 of lawyers they want don't come cheap. According to Melvin 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:13.200 the middleman alleged master mindset he would be paying for this, 0:07:13.800 --> 0:07:16.040 and should also be funding all the expenses involved with 0:07:16.120 --> 0:07:19.120 keeping the assassins happy behind bars, But in fact he's 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:22.200 come up short. So Melvin is reaching into his own 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:26.400 pocket again to make up the difference, and that keeps happening. 0:07:27.000 --> 0:07:30.160 So jibobawaya. 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:34.600 Here's the reason that Melvin finds himself personally bankrolling so 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:39.000 many of the assassin's expenses. The reason he finds himself 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:41.720 funding a murder plot that wasn't his idea and that 0:07:41.760 --> 0:07:46.400 he doesn't benefit from. He simply can't say no. Melvin 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.320 the Middleman knows that at any point, any one of 0:07:49.360 --> 0:07:53.360 the three killers behind bars could begin talking to the authorities. 0:07:53.640 --> 0:07:58.720 So Melvin the Middleman's own freedom depends on their continued silence. 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:03.360 So each week and each month, as the demands for 0:08:03.560 --> 0:08:07.480 cash and gifts grow greater and greater, Melvin the Middleman 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:10.640 hands over more and more banknotes to Mario de Georgio. 0:08:11.880 --> 0:08:15.480 Much later in court, Melvin the Middleman will describe himself 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:18.720 as feeling blackmailed and having his back to the wall 0:08:19.360 --> 0:08:23.200 when faced with these demands from the Georgios. But however 0:08:23.240 --> 0:08:26.880 he feels for now he keeps paying, and around this 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:28.960 time it almost seems as though the Georgia clan is 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:33.400 actively enjoying testing how far they can push Melvin's generosity. 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:37.120 The fluffy dog that Mario de Georgia now keeps as 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.840 a pet, the one sniffing at the coffee table, that 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:43.800 was another unwilling gift from Melvin. It's not just any pet. 0:08:44.080 --> 0:08:47.400 The Georgia wanted a designer pedigree dog imported all the 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:51.760 way from China, one that costs nearly six thousand dollars online. 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:57.640 Melvin the Middleman paid up again at any greed time. 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:00.199 During the visit, Mario de Georgio gets a phone call 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:04.360 from inside Corde Prison. It's the younger of the Georgia brothers, Alfred, 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:07.360 being the Georgia. He wants to know that everything is 0:09:07.440 --> 0:09:11.960 running according to plan. Mario de Georgia confirms that Melvin 0:09:11.960 --> 0:09:14.760 the Middleman has brought what he supposedly owes for this week, 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:19.199 including their bi steaks and the cheese, and from inside 0:09:19.240 --> 0:09:22.400 cordeen prison, the two brothers tell Mario that they have 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:25.160 a special message to pass on to Melvin the middle Man. 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:31.400 Melvin something for him to hear and bear in mind 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:38.880 at all times. Okay, the oldest the Georgia brother listens 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:42.920 and then looks his visitor dead in the eye and 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:50.600 repeats word for word the messages on the inside, not 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:51.760 those on the outside. 0:09:56.320 --> 0:10:00.800 Mario Georgia will later be charged with blackmail and money 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:04.880 in connection with the Tessamiley about these events by Melvin 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:09.719 the Middleman, married to Georgio, who's pleaded not guilty, and 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:12.120 the proceedings are still continuing. 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:22.160 So it appears that Melvin the Middleman is caught in 0:10:22.200 --> 0:10:26.120 a delicate web connected to both mister alleged Mastermind on 0:10:26.120 --> 0:10:29.360 one side, and did the Georgios and Vincent the Cough 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:34.000 on the other, and it's pretty fragile. His predicament is 0:10:34.000 --> 0:10:37.240 in many ways a product of Malta's unique gang culture, 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:41.760 a culture of impunity and power and money, the same 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:45.360 culture that killed Daphne. In fact, the very method use 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:49.240 to murder her is virtually a hallmark of our homegrown mafia, 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:52.320 which brings us to the next piece of the puzzle, 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:54.120 the carbonb. 0:10:59.440 --> 0:11:00.600 So Manuel, where are we? 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:04.840 This is in Sea Duck Creek, which is a very 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:08.960 busy junction connecting the center to the north of the island. 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:11.719 And what happened here. 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.559 Well a few years back, just across the street early 0:11:15.600 --> 0:11:19.000 in the morning, in rush hour traffic, a car blew up. 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.160 So let me read you this. This is from Malta today, 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:26.559 twentyeth February twenty seventeen, forty year old man from Floriana 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:29.720 has been critically injured after a car exploded in McDuck 0:11:29.720 --> 0:11:32.480 close to the Workers Monument. That's the thing behind me here. 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:35.439 The victim, who has lost both legs in the explosion 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:38.640 has been identified as Romeo Bone. Only last year, Bone 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:41.439 was cleared of participating into two thousand and seven Port 0:11:41.440 --> 0:11:44.719 Tomas or jewelry heist. Listen to this. The explosion took 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:48.280 place at around ten thirty am, causing traffic creos in 0:11:48.280 --> 0:11:51.000 the area. The witnesses said that Bone was dragged away 0:11:51.040 --> 0:11:53.880 from the car by passers by, who also reported that 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:57.040 he was conscious and was able to identify himself. 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:02.320 And was anybody arrested tried convicted for this car bombing. 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:06.240 This was one of a long series of car bombs, 0:12:07.000 --> 0:12:09.800 and over none of those car bombs was there ever 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:13.440 any arrest, never mind charges or prosecution or any of that. 0:12:14.240 --> 0:12:17.800 No one was ever arrested for these. There's also this 0:12:17.840 --> 0:12:20.960 spectacular factor, right, this is a ball of fire in 0:12:21.000 --> 0:12:23.560 the middle of the road. Is someone being pulled out 0:12:23.559 --> 0:12:27.000 without their legs from that car? And this is where 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.240 a bit of reaction starts. The public starts expecting the 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:32.200 police to act on this because the police are not 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:33.960 making any arrest, they're not getting anywhere. 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:37.720 So the gangsters who were blowing people up, what was 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:42.880 there to take away from this When nobody's arrested, nobody's prosecuted, uncertainly, 0:12:42.920 --> 0:12:43.840 nobody's convicted. 0:12:44.600 --> 0:12:47.559 I think the most important messages that they could get 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:51.120 away with it that this was fine, that this method 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:57.960 would work. In fact, when you study the series of 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:03.000 car bombings that preceded Daphne's more some patterns emerge. First 0:13:03.280 --> 0:13:04.360 the sheer frequency. 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:08.440 There was one in January six, twenty sixteen, another in 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.720 September twenty sixteen. You know, there was one in October 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:15.559 twenty sixteen. January twenty seventeen, February twenty seventeen. 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:19.000 You know, Julian Bonici is a former Maltese journalist who 0:13:19.000 --> 0:13:20.640 has tried to catalog these killings. 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:25.040 These are five car bombs within the space of a 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:29.200 year and nothing was done about it. Five bombs and 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.800 a yeah should be a major red flag. 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:35.760 There had been nineteen bomb attacks, many of them car bombs, 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:39.040 in the seven years leading up to Dafnese murder in 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:41.760 a country the size of Malta with a population of 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:45.880 only half a million people. That's an incredible statistic. And 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:49.160 the second pattern that emerged is the similarity in the 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:54.640 carbon devices, suggesting an organized infrastructure a production line behind 0:13:54.679 --> 0:13:58.440 each attack. Dafnee bomb appears to have come from this 0:13:58.600 --> 0:14:03.160 production line. Take the killing of John Camillary, blown up 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:04.480 around the year before Deafnie. 0:14:04.600 --> 0:14:08.400 He was meted by carbon in Saint Paul's Bay. The 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:11.679 car bomb was particularly powerful, you know, during the day, 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:13.680 it was a really shocking scene. 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.560 News footage shows a white car turned almost inside out 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:21.440 by the blast, the roof peeled back and blackened, all 0:14:21.440 --> 0:14:23.400 in the middle of a normal residential street. 0:14:23.680 --> 0:14:26.880 And the bomb, much like very similar other cases, was 0:14:27.040 --> 0:14:31.080 placed on the Camilliary seat and was detonated by mobile. 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:36.080 But what's very interesting about this murder is Camilary was 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:39.000 also chasing Georgia Georgia for some money at the time, 0:14:39.040 --> 0:14:40.880 for over fifty two thousand euros. 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:45.120 Yes, Chinese George de Georgio, one of Dafnie's assassins, and 0:14:45.120 --> 0:14:47.400 allegedly the man who drove the car in the drive 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:50.480 by murder of the lawyer carmelker Kopp that we heard 0:14:50.480 --> 0:14:55.640 about in episode one. It's probably a good moment to 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:59.040 emphasize that no one has been convicted for the Camillary 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:02.400 killing or any of the other car bombs other than Daphny's. 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:05.640 So in the majority of these murders we don't know 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:09.600 officially or otherwise who carried them out. But as is 0:15:09.640 --> 0:15:13.320 becoming increasingly clear, there are many more people involved than 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:15.800 just those who pull the trigger or in this case, 0:15:16.120 --> 0:15:20.600 detonate the bomb. There is a wider organized infrastructure and 0:15:20.640 --> 0:15:23.200 the same names start to come up. If we ask 0:15:23.240 --> 0:15:26.120 who supplied all the materials for the bomb that killed Daphnie, 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:30.280 another connection with previous bombings seems to emerge. According to 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:34.240 later testimony by Vincent, the kof those materials were supplied 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:38.520 by a criminal gang led by two notorious brothers, Adrian 0:15:38.760 --> 0:15:44.040 and Robert Tajus. Their organization's street name is Talmaksar. No 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:47.400 translation of this phrase works. 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:53.120 Vincent macaff was telling people that Talmukshah had worked closely 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:56.400 with the Di Giorgios and him for years. He later 0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:59.440 estimated that at one point Seal Makshah were handing over 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:02.440 the equivalent of twenty one thousand dollars per month through 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:07.720 the Georgios for quotes work end quotes. The two criminal 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:10.400 gangs appeared to have cooperated closely on other things too. 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.640 In the Carmel Kirkopp drive by murder, the shooter was 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:19.160 allegedly Jamie Vella, an alleged associate of tal Muxar doctor 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:22.480 kirk Coopp. The victim was owed money by one of 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:25.960 the tal Muxar brothers, and according to Vincent the Cough, 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:30.480 Jamie Veller and Robert Adjus were also closely involved in 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:35.680 the logistics of Daphne's murder too. Remember, the first plan 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:38.200 was to kill Daphne by shooting her through the window 0:16:38.200 --> 0:16:41.680 of her home. Tal Maxa's Robert Adeus was alleged to 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:43.560 have supplied the rifles. 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:48.240 When that plan was abandoned. And the decision was made 0:16:48.320 --> 0:16:51.200 to switch to a car bomb. The police believe Jamievella 0:16:51.240 --> 0:16:53.760 picked up the bomb in Sicily and brought it to 0:16:53.920 --> 0:16:57.080 Malta on the ferry, an import service of a kind. 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:03.040 Vincent Dakoff was a unsurprised. He said that Al Maksarman 0:17:03.360 --> 0:17:06.800 were known to have many Italian friends and not too 0:17:06.880 --> 0:17:13.639 subtle reference to connections with the mafia. And there are 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:17.080 also striking similarities between the bomb that killed Daphne and 0:17:17.160 --> 0:17:20.120 the device that donated in rush hour traffic at mcd creek. 0:17:20.760 --> 0:17:24.879 The bomb that amputated Romeo Bone's legs also triggered by 0:17:25.000 --> 0:17:26.280 cell phone. 0:17:26.560 --> 0:17:30.760 What's very interesting about this med is that the court 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:35.000 sittings have revealed, you know, a potential link, you know, 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:40.159 between this explosion of Romeo Bone, Vince and Vince Musca, 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:42.800 George Georgia and Alfred de Georgia, or the three men 0:17:43.680 --> 0:17:46.160 charged with murdering Dafnieasa. 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:50.920 According to Vincent Lakoff's testimony, Japhanes's gillers were so conscious 0:17:50.960 --> 0:17:53.440 of the fact that mister Bone had survived that they 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:56.360 discussed whether it was wise to use a similar device 0:17:56.440 --> 0:18:01.240 to kill Daphne. They put these professional concerns to Tom 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:05.000 Maxar's Robert Aurjeus as the bomb supplier, and they got 0:18:05.080 --> 0:18:09.240 an intriguing and detailed answer. The Romeo bone bomb had 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:12.200 failed to kill its target, they were told, because it 0:18:12.240 --> 0:18:15.400 had been placed under the car's key lock, not under 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:19.359 the seat, and so the blast had been misdirected. The 0:18:19.480 --> 0:18:21.960 kind of detailed information that you would need to be 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:26.320 close to the perpetrators to know, it might seem. 0:18:26.680 --> 0:18:29.320 Once again, no one has ever been convicted of any 0:18:29.359 --> 0:18:32.080 of these crimes other than Daphanie's murder. 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:35.919 Roberts Us and Jamie Veller are currently awaiting trial for 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:40.159 complicity in Daphanese's murder as well as the Carmel Kirkop killing, 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:44.480 alongside other charges. Edrin ADUs is a waiting trial for 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:47.919 involvement in the Carmel Kirk coop killing, but is not 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:52.000 charged with involvement in Daphane's murder. They all deny the charges. 0:18:56.240 --> 0:19:01.320 October twelfth, twenty fourteen. Some background on crime gang Adrian Adjus. 0:19:01.520 --> 0:19:04.439 Daphne did not write much on street crime in Malta, 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:08.000 but she did write one post about Adrian Adjus. 0:19:08.880 --> 0:19:12.960 It was a characteristically fearless post and it mentioned another 0:19:13.000 --> 0:19:16.960 business associate of mister Ajus, who had disappeared suddenly. 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:20.840 Adrian Addus's friend and close associate, the drug dealer Terence 0:19:20.880 --> 0:19:24.760 janen Say, vanished in November twenty twelve after telling his 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:27.440 family that he was going fishing. His car was found 0:19:27.520 --> 0:19:29.879 parked and locked, and his yacht was still at its 0:19:29.920 --> 0:19:32.920 usual mooring. None of his bank accounts have been touched 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:36.680 since he has presumed dead. He was twenty four when 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:37.200 he vanished. 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.840 It's important to note that Daphni never directly accused Adrian 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:46.760 Ajus of the murder, and he was never convicted. Surprisingly, 0:19:47.040 --> 0:19:50.000 it's possible that we know exactly what Adrian Ajews thought 0:19:50.000 --> 0:19:53.119 about this blog post. Under the post, one of Daphne's 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:56.359 fans had written anonymously praising her for covering this topic 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.160 and raising further questions about mister Ajus's family criminal history. 0:20:00.640 --> 0:20:03.360 Mister A Juice appears to have responded to this fan. 0:20:03.800 --> 0:20:07.720 Someone posting and Adrianajus's name wrote, I know you don't 0:20:07.760 --> 0:20:10.600 have the balls, but if you find them somewhere in 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:14.160 your wife's pocket, let's meet up and we sort things out. 0:20:14.640 --> 0:20:18.399 You are just a low life afraid to show your face. 0:20:23.760 --> 0:20:27.399 Unsolved murders in themselves are a little bit part of 0:20:27.520 --> 0:20:28.359 multi sculpture. 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:30.320 I'd hate to say it. 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.520 You know, we've had some really high profile killings in 0:20:33.560 --> 0:20:37.439 the country, murders that just sort of went code. A 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:39.520 sort of question that always needed in my mind is 0:20:39.520 --> 0:20:44.000 why these, particularly Mathia style murders never got solved. 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:47.600 Take the car bombings for example. The space of these 0:20:47.640 --> 0:20:50.159 bombings in the years leading up to Japanese's death was 0:20:50.160 --> 0:20:53.280 so pronounced, but it provided the impetus for the police 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:58.440 to purchase a special computed database to collate and store 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:03.200 evidence of these killings going years. So when Daphne was murdered, 0:21:04.000 --> 0:21:06.359 that should have been the starting point for police to 0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:10.400 tease out these very patents and connections from previous crimes. 0:21:11.400 --> 0:21:14.720 But when the officer leading the investigation into Daphne's death 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:21.879 opened the database, he found almost nothing. Later he described 0:21:21.920 --> 0:21:28.360 this as bare, almost unused, and the crimes remained unsolved. 0:21:28.800 --> 0:21:31.480 And that brings us to one of Daphnie's great themes, 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:33.720 Malta's culture of corruption. 0:21:34.800 --> 0:21:37.879 It's impossible and mold not to have connections. You know, 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:44.000 your minister, your police officer is not twenty kilometers away, 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:47.120 he's down the road. You know, you can't bump into 0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:52.040 him at the supermarket, he said, you know, so, yeah, 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:55.720 what I did it created this. I think it just 0:21:55.960 --> 0:21:59.800 adds to the climate and the culture of empiathetics and 0:21:59.800 --> 0:22:00.800 the more the. 0:22:00.760 --> 0:22:04.240 Same impunity that fueled both the high level misdeeds exposed 0:22:04.240 --> 0:22:07.720 in Dafnes's blog and our epidemic of car bombings and 0:22:07.880 --> 0:22:08.880 contract killings. 0:22:09.400 --> 0:22:13.000 Criminals are confident in Morta, all the hitmen they did 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:14.800 it because they thought they could get away with it. 0:22:15.200 --> 0:22:17.720 I think they were probably sure they could get away 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:21.719 with it. I mean major crime in mals are at 0:22:21.800 --> 0:22:24.040 least for me. I mean, this is my perspective, and 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:26.520 I think the fact and figures would back me up. 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:30.280 Is that goes ignored, you know, whether it's a question 0:22:30.600 --> 0:22:35.080 of resources in the police department, whether it's a question 0:22:35.840 --> 0:22:39.639 of you know, corruption, bribery and what it does. Obviously 0:22:39.680 --> 0:22:44.719 it creates a climate where these things can happen. 0:22:45.640 --> 0:22:50.600 Indeed, these things can happen. So for all these reasons, 0:22:50.680 --> 0:22:53.479 when Melvin the Middleman is paying visits to Mario de 0:22:53.520 --> 0:22:57.320 Giorgio and Marsa and making his regular donations of food, 0:22:57.400 --> 0:23:00.640 cash and gifts, he is every good reason to fear 0:23:00.680 --> 0:23:04.960 those on the inside. But Melvin the Middleman is also 0:23:05.080 --> 0:23:09.879 reaching breaking point. He's beginning to realize that he is 0:23:10.000 --> 0:23:12.919 far out of his depth with this crime and its aftermath. 0:23:15.359 --> 0:23:17.720 Soon after the arrest of the de Georgios and Vincent 0:23:17.760 --> 0:23:20.959 de Kov, Melvin the Middleman takes out a will for 0:23:21.000 --> 0:23:27.480 the first time, he begins drinking heavily and taking tranquilizers. Later, 0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:30.400 he will testify that his relationship with his boss, mister 0:23:30.440 --> 0:23:35.359 Alleged Mastermind, also changes. Although the two of them have 0:23:35.520 --> 0:23:38.880 known and trusted each other for decades, for the first time, 0:23:38.960 --> 0:23:42.520 Melvin the Middleman begins to fear his old friend and godfather, 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:45.960 fear him almost as much as he fears the de Georgios. 0:23:47.119 --> 0:23:49.600 As ever, Melvin the Middleman is aware that he is 0:23:49.600 --> 0:23:53.439 the only man who knows Alleged Mastermind's role in Dafne's murder, 0:23:54.480 --> 0:23:59.080 and so if he Melvin were to disappear Suddenly, he 0:23:59.160 --> 0:24:02.960 realizes it might of an important problem for mister Alleged Mastermind. 0:24:04.400 --> 0:24:07.920 For all their years of friendship, nothing can change that fact, 0:24:08.800 --> 0:24:11.919 And increasingly Melvin the Middleman sees that what happened to 0:24:11.960 --> 0:24:16.240 people like Romeo Bone, Carmelker Cobb, John Camilly and Tiffany 0:24:16.320 --> 0:24:20.000 herself could happen to him, and if it did happen, 0:24:20.680 --> 0:24:24.400 he also knows there is little chance mister alleged Mastermind 0:24:24.440 --> 0:24:25.640 would ever be caught. 0:24:27.480 --> 0:24:32.359 At times, Melvin contemplates turning himself into the police, even 0:24:32.440 --> 0:24:35.359 driving to a police station, before turning back at the 0:24:35.440 --> 0:24:41.080 last minute, fearing the power and influence of mister alleged Mastermind. 0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:46.800 And as time goes on, Melvin's drinking and self control 0:24:46.920 --> 0:24:49.879 keep getting worse. At one point, he turns up at 0:24:49.880 --> 0:24:55.280 Alleged Mastermind's office in front of important international businessmen, wanting reassurance. 0:24:56.000 --> 0:24:59.399 As the police investigation develops and the international pressure on 0:24:59.440 --> 0:25:03.040 Malta is so off, Daphne's murder grows, mister Eliged master 0:25:03.119 --> 0:25:06.639 Mind continues to try to calm Melvin the Middleman down. 0:25:07.600 --> 0:25:09.840 He reminds him of the political connections that are in 0:25:09.880 --> 0:25:13.840 their favor. He texts him not to panic, to stay strong. 0:25:15.520 --> 0:25:17.920 They both know that if Melvin cracks under the pressure, 0:25:18.520 --> 0:25:22.040 he might bring them both down, and so the measures 0:25:22.080 --> 0:25:24.800 mister religid master Mind takes to keep Melvin the Middleman 0:25:24.920 --> 0:25:29.040 on side become more extravagant. At one point he even 0:25:29.040 --> 0:25:30.960 pays for Melvin and his family to have a beach 0:25:30.960 --> 0:25:36.960 holiday at his expense to reduce their stress levels. But Melvin, 0:25:37.040 --> 0:25:41.520 perhaps wisely, is not reassured. He senses the risk of 0:25:41.560 --> 0:25:45.879 betrayal ever more strongly. Years later, in court, Melvin the 0:25:45.880 --> 0:25:50.719 Middleman described how Daphne's fate, the murder he had organized 0:25:50.840 --> 0:25:53.840 as a favor, now felt like a warning for his 0:25:54.000 --> 0:25:58.760 own future. I thought it was my turn now, he said. 0:26:04.480 --> 0:26:07.960 One evening, mister alleged Mastermind tries to cheer Melvin up 0:26:08.000 --> 0:26:09.960 with a gift of some meat and wine to take home, 0:26:11.280 --> 0:26:14.719 but Melvin doesn't dare touch it. Jason Atterpietly asked him 0:26:14.720 --> 0:26:18.800 about this in court. He believed it was poisoned and 0:26:18.920 --> 0:26:19.720 he threw it away. 0:26:20.440 --> 0:26:23.400