Gaia Squarci

Photographer

gaiasquarci.com

A Journalist's murder in Malta, for the New Yorker

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Location: New York

Nationality: Italian

Biography: Gaia Squarci, 1988, is a photographer and videographer who divides her time between Milan and New York, where she teaches Digital Storytelling at ICP. Gaia is a contributor of Prospekt, an IWMF fellow and National Geographic grantee. With a... MORE

Paul Caruana Galizia, son of la...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

1 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

Paul Caruana Galizia, son of late investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is photographed at the outpost where Alfred Degiorgio, one of his mother’s killers, hid to spy her movements before placing a bomb in her car. In the background, the road where her car exploded. Nearby Bidnija, Malta. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

A ship enters the Gran...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

2 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

A ship enters the Grand Harbour at Valletta, Malta. On October 16, 2017 George Degiorgio sailed out of the Grand Harbour from Marsa on board of a boat called Maya, carrying a mobile phone he used to detonate a bomb in journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s car. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

A woman stands in front of the ...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

3 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

A woman stands in front of the memorial for journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, killed because of her investigative work in 2017. The Caruana Galizia family and activist groups have fought to keep the memorial in front of the city’s courthouse. The memorial lays on the Great Siege Monument sculpted in 1927 by Antonio Sciortino, commemorating Malta’s victory after resisting the four-month-long Ottoman siege of 1565. The three bronze figures symbolize Faith, Fortitude and Civilization. Valletta, Malta. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

(L-R) Andrew and Paul ...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

4 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

(L-R) Andrew and Paul Caruana Galizia, sons of late investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, are photographed with a mock orange tree in the garden of the house where they grew up nearby Bidnija, Malta. One night in May 2006 Paul went back home late at night and found car tyres on fire next to a window, placed by people who had surpassed into the property to threaten Daphne’s safety. Paul gave the alarm and a fire was avoided, but the melted rubber of the tyres and petrol that was contained in bottles within tyres leaked into the ground and was absorbed by the mock orange tree’s roots. The tree’s trunk gave off a black liquid for some time and the brothers thought it would die, but it survived and kept growing around its damaged core. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

Matthew Caruana Galizia, the el...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

5 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

Matthew Caruana Galizia, the eldest son of late investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is photographed in the garden of the house where he grew up and lives, nearby Bidnija, Malta. Matthew was at home when his mother’s car exploded shortly after she had left, and he soon got to the scene after hearing the explosion. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

Family members and close friend...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

6 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

Family members and close friends stand at the entrance of the Sagra Familja chapel minutes before the start of a mass in honor of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, on the third anniversary of her death. Nearby Bidnija, Malta. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

Family members and close friend...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

7 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

Family members and close friends stand at the entrance of the Sagra Familja chapel after a mass in honor of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, on the third anniversary of her death. Nearby Bidnija, Malta. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

Paul Caruana Galizia, son of la...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

8 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

Paul Caruana Galizia, son of late investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is photographed at the field where his mother’s car was thrown by the blast that killed her. Nearby Bidnija, Malta. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

Andrew Caruana Galizia...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

9 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

Andrew Caruana Galizia, son of late investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, is photographed with one of the family dogs. When Daphne Caruana Galizia was alive three family dogs were killed in the span of several years in the attempt to intimidate her and push her to stop her investigative work. Nearby Bidnija, Malta. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

The so called “Potato...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

10 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

The so called “Potato Shed”, the warehouse where Alfred Degiorgio, George Degiorgio and Vince Muscat, material executors of Daphne Caruana Galizia’s killing, were arrested by police in 2017, is photographed at Marsa, an industrial part of the Grand Harbour of Valletta, Malta. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

A ship exits the Grand...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

11 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

A ship exits the Grand Harbour at Valletta, Malta. On October 16, 2017 George Degiorgio sailed out of the Grand Harbour from Marsa on board of a boat called Maya, carrying a mobile phone he used to detonate a bomb in journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s car. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

(L-R) Paul, Matthew and Andrew ...Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

12 of 12 © 2024 Gaia Squarci

(L-R) Paul, Matthew and Andrew Caruana Galizia, sons of late investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, are photographed in the garden of the house where they grew up, nearby Bidnija, Malta. Gaia Squarci for the New Yorker

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Private Story

A Journalist's murder in Malta, for the New Yorker

Copyright Gaia Squarci 2024

Updated Jan 2021

On October 16, 2017, Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia drove out of her home in Bidnija to take care of a suspicious block on her bank account. Minutes later, after hearing the noise of a blast close by, her elder son Matthew was looking at the frame of her car ablaze. Daphne's last words: “There are crooks everywhere you look now. The situation is desperate.”

Since that day Daphne's sons Matthew, Andrew and Paul have been working tirelessly to bring to justice the instigators of her killing, and their efforts resulted in the arrest of government officials and the resignation former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

In a long form article for the New Yorker, journalist Ben Taub reports on Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder ad the anti-corruption investigations she was killed for. I spent three days in Malta to help visualize the story.

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