Daphne Caruana Galizia’s killer was very careful to target her and her alone without injuring other people, former police commissioner John Rizzo believes.

Mr Rizzo, who led the force for 12 years and is considered to have been one of Malta’s best investigators, said the person who set off the bomb was likely to have been in the vicinity in what looked like a “very well-planned” operation.

“I am not involved at all, so I can only speak based on what I’ve seen. There is no doubt that the bomb was very powerful. When you talk about Semtex, we’re talking about powerful material.

“There is no doubt that it was intended to kill. I also think that whoever did it did it specifically to kill her. The killer was very attentive to targeting just her.

“There were incidents in the past when bystanders or children got hurt too, but in this case it seemed very well-planned and targeted her and her alone. Even the place when the bomb went off is indicative of how Daphne was the sole target,” Mr Rizzo told The Sunday Times of Malta.

There have been cases of car bombs injuring innocent bystanders. For example the blast in Marsa in September 2016, which injured two men when a Ford Transit exploded on Aldo Moro Street, also injured the driver of a nearby car.

And a car bomb that exploded last February could have hurt bystanders, as it was detonated when the vehicle was at a standstill waiting for the traffic lights to turn green in Msida and surrounded by several cars. However, no one was injured.

Mr Rizzo believes that the person who detonated the bomb only struck when he saw that Ms Caruana Galizia was on her own in the car and that the bomb would not hurt anyone else.

Whoever wants to get you will get you in one way or another, whether you have police protection or not

He also believes that if it was really detonated by a mobile phone or some other electronic device, as seems to be the case, the person who pressed the button was probably in the vicinity.

“I also believe that the person was watching, because there would have been no other way to see that she had got into the car, driven out of the driveway and started down the road. It was very well-planned, including the timing. It had a specific intent to kill Daphne Caruana Galizia and the person reached his aim.

“Now it’s up to the investigators to find who manufactured the bomb and the person who sent him,” Mr Rizzo said.

There were people in Malta capable of manufacturing such a bomb, he added.

He recalled that he had offered Ms Caruana Galizia protection whenever she needed it, but there were times when she had refused.

“She always had some kind of protection. There was a time when she refused fixed point protection, with a policeman stationed outside her house. But on those occasions, I replaced them with frequent patrols.”

Asked whether he thought the protection should have continued until the end, Mr Rizzo replied: “Whoever wants to get you will get you in one way or another, whether you have police protection or not. With police protection, you obviously feel safer, but people sometimes feel suffocated when it is constant. Daphne was one of those who would usually play down any threat.”

Mr Rizzo said he had spoken to Ms Caruana Galizia frequently during the period that she had “issues” with Magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera, so there were many reports from both sides.

John Rizzo: “The killer was very attentive to targeting just her.” Photo: Matthew MirabelliJohn Rizzo: “The killer was very attentive to targeting just her.” Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

“They sometimes communicated directly with me when one of them felt threatened or offended with one thing or another. They used to call even at abnormal hours.”

He also mentioned the incident on the eve of the 2013 general election when Ms Caruana Galizia published some articles on the ‘day of silence’ and was consequently summoned to the Mosta police station.

Asked if he thought Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar should step aside for the investigation since the slain journalist had frequently targeted him, Mr Rizzo said this was a non-issue.

“Apart from the Police Commissioner, there are a number of other officers investigating the case. At the end of the day, it’s true he has to take the decisions, but it doesn’t even cross my mind that he could have a conflict just because she wrote about him. As members of the police corps, we are there to serve. When you have a murder, I am certain that the commissioner will not look at any of these things. I do not see it as a problem, at all,” he said.

Monday’s was the sixth car bomb in two years. Does this worry him?

“Yes, of course they worry me. Even a simple robbery of an elderly person worries me, let alone a car bomb. But the other bombs were different to this one. From my little knowledge, it seemed the other bombs targeted certain people with certain characteristics. It is always wrong to kill, but if it’s so easy to target these criminals, how much easier is it to target people who aren’t criminals?”

Asked about last Thursday’s crime conference, which did not go down well with the press, Mr Rizzo said during an investigation the police could not say whatever they wanted to, as it could affect the investigation. However, he said he would not be averse to frequent bulletins with updates.

On the perceived lack of public trust in the police force, Mr Rizzo said this hurt him after 42 years as a police officer. “Of course it hurts me, even now that I am not involved any longer. God forbid we reach a stage when people lose their trust in the police. Every member of the force is an ambassador of the corps and they must work every day to gain this trust.”

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