Daphne Caruana Galizia's alleged murderers are back in court on Friday morning as the compilation of evidence against them continued.

Highlights from Thursday's sitting:

• DNA on cigarette butt from Bidnija field matched cigarette butts found at the Marsa potato shed.
• The Cyber crime unit was unable to retrieve undersea footage data because of a corrupted card.

11.15am: Case is adjourned until April 26. 

11.07am: Inspector and defence lawyers discuss the need to engage an IT expert to retrieve the corrupted file connected with the diving footage.

11.05am: As to the Europol expert, the witness says his name was “Sam” a Scandinavian national. Finally, we're getting closer to know the identity of the unknown Europol expert! But inspector Spiteri cannot recall his surname. 

11.03am: Inspector John Spiteri from drugs squad says he was instructed to handle search on George Degiorgio's St Paul's Bay flat on December 4. He confirms there was an arrest warrant which was shown to Mr Degiorgio's partner.

10.51am: Asked about the anonymous letters also handed over for analysis, 
Dr Cassar says she received stamp for forensic testing but had no knowledge of the content of the letters.

10.49am: Dr Cassar says the cigarette butt found at vantage point under a tree matched that of Alfred Degiorgio. She also analysed a substantial amount of cigarette butt from the Marsa potato shed. It matched Alfred Degiorgio's. From the exhibits, she concluded that at least 12 different people's genetic profiles emerged, including the Degiorgio brothers.

10.42am: Dr Marisa Cassar, court expert appointed by magistrate Anthony Vella, is the next witness. She presents a large number of exhibits, including a cigarette butt found under a tree in Bidnija after the explosion. She also presents cigarette butts from one of the accused's vessel, which police believe was used to commit the crime. 

10.35am: Some tension in the courtoom between the prosecuting officer and defence lawyers who claim his questions to some of the witnesses are "suggestive".

The three men accused of planting the bomb.

10.18am: Witness Joseph Zarb from the police drug squad says he was at St Paul's Bay when he was called in to keep watch on George Degiorgio's flat.

10.08am: A police officer present during the search at the Siggiewi home of Vincent Muscat tells court a Europol officer was present. He was also present during the search in Muscat's Msida residence and vehicle. 

9.57am: Patrick Pollacco, senior officer at port security says the police had requested footage from CCTV cameras in the the harbour. 

9.50am: AFM witness says various mobile phones and SD cards were recovered from the seabed, though visibility was really poor. But footage of the items being retrieved from seabed appears to have been lost after the cards were corrupted. Its back-up on the AFM computer was somehow lost. 

9.30am: The court is reconvening after the magistrate refused bail for the three suspects. 

It is also the first time they are meeting after the publication of the first stories related to the Daphne Project. One of the stories claimed that one of the suspects was seen speaking to Economy Minister Chris Cardona in a Siggiewi bar.

The on-site compilation of evidence took place last Tuesday. Photo: Jonathan Borg

Event timeline

Ms Caruana Galizia was killed in a car bomb blast on October 16 close to her home in Bidnija.

In December, police arrested 10 men in connection with her murder.

Three of those - brothers Alfred and George Degiorgio and Vincent Muscat - were charged with her murder. The others were released without charge.

Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit is presiding over the compilation of evidence.

So far, she has heard how:

• A laptop taken by investigators from Ms Caruana Galizia's residence shows the last data dated back to December 2015. She was using another laptop when she was killed.
• Police used the FBI's help to home in on suspicious phone numbers. One was linked to a remote-controlled device and went active at 2am in Bidnija on the day of Ms Caruana Galizia's murder. It received an SMS at the time the bomb went off and immediately went off-radar.
• They believe that the phone which sent the bomb detonation SMS was an old Nokia 105. Police found several Nokia 105 phones at the Marsa shed where they arrested the suspects.
• Police triangulated cell tower data to work out that the killer SMS was sent from out at sea. George Degiorgio was seen going fishing on that day, and shortly after the bomb went off texted his partner "buy me wine, my love."
• They received reports of a suspicious car regularly parked by tat-Tarġa Battery - an ideal vantage point for the killers - in the weeks leading to the murder. The car was subsequently never seen there again.

The key courtroom players:

Martin Fenech is appearing for Vince Muscat, known as il-Koħħu, 55 and from Msida.

William Cuschieri and Martha Muscat are appearing for Alfred Degiorgio, known as il-Fulu, 53, and from St Paul's Bay.

Josette Sultana is appearing for Alfred's brother George Degiorgio, known as iċ-Ċiniz 55, and also from St Paul's Bay.

Philip Galea Farrugia from the attorney general's office and inspectors Keith Arnaud and Kurt Zahra are appearing for the prosecution.

Jason Azzopardi and Therese Comodini Cachia are appearing parte civile.