Melvin Theuma told the jury hearing Yorgen Fenech’s trial by jury that he began secretly recording the businessman because he feared he would ultimately be betrayed, killed or imprisoned.

Theuma, the self-confessed middleman in the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, said he felt he needed proof of his dealings with Fenech because of the latter’s power and his close links to former prime minister Joseph Muscat’s chief of staff, Keith Schembri.

“Yorgen would constantly tell me that Schembri would walk through fire for him,” Theuma told the court. “I was convinced I’d be killed or put in prison.”

Theuma was explaining to prosecutor Godwin Cini why he had started making covert recordings of Fenech, recordings that would later become central to the murder investigation.

He said he believed that without the recordings, nobody would believe his account since Fenech was a very powerful man.

The recordings were eventually handed over to investigators after Theuma was arrested in November 2019. They formed a crucial part of the evidence that led to Fenech’s arrest and subsequent prosecution.

Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb on 16 October 2017. Theuma said Fenech pushed for the murder because she was about to expose information related to Ray (his uncle). At the time, the journalist was working on the investigation into Electrogas.

Theuma was granted a presidential pardon in return for information about the murder, after telling investigators that Fenech had commissioned the killing. Fenech denies ordering the assassination and has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Theuma told the jury that he eventually sent word to Fenech, through Johann Cremona (Fenech’s former business partner), that he had been secretly recording their conversations.

After that, he said, he began visiting Cremona every weekday. Theuma described those meetings as occasions when he would discuss the murder and his fears with Cremona.

Cremona has already spent several days in the witness box during the trial, including being confronted with a series of covert recordings made by Theuma.

In those recordings, Cremona made a number of references to politicians, businessmen and other prominent figures. He has repeatedly told the jury that many of the claims he made were a “bluff” intended to calm Theuma and keep him from taking drastic action.

The recordings have nevertheless become an important part of the prosecution’s attempt to establish what was being discussed among people close to Fenech after the murder.

During Wednesday’s evidence, Theuma said Cremona told him to pin the murder on former minister Chris Cardona.

“He would also mention that guy involved in oil or diesel, too,” Theuma said. (In the immediate aftermath of the murder, the narrative being pushed by the authorities was that it was related to fuel smuggling.)

The allegations concerning Cardona have previously surfaced in the murder investigation with reference to a previous plot to kill the journalist. Cardona has consistently denied any involvement in the assassination and has never been charged in connection with it.

Theuma also told the jury that he had confided in several people who subsequently became connected to the investigation and proceedings. Among them was Edwin Brincat, known as “il-Gojja”.

Theuma said the recordings were his protection because of the disparity in power between himself and Fenech. He believed Fenech could easily have him eliminated or jailed if he had no evidence to support his claims.

He continued to believe that both Fenech and Schembri could have him killed.

Theuma referred to a letter he had written in which he said he was the middleman and Fenech and Schembri were the masterminds. He sent a copy to Fenech together with a sample of the recordings. But he then added that he had nothing on Schembri, who he alleged acted behind the scenes.