"My mother was assassinated because she stood between the rule of law and those who sought to violate it, like many strong journalists," one of three sons, Matthew Caruana Galizia, wrote on Facebook. One of the topics Caruana Galizia probed grew out of revelations from the 2016 Panama Papers leak. Speaking to Italian state television Tuesday, the prime minister noted that Caruana Galizia had written about him for years. In a statement, the lawmaker described Malta as a "mecca for money launderers and tax avoiders." Italy's national organized crime prosecutor, Franco Roberti, told reporters in Milan that the Maltese slaying reminded him of the 2006 killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaja.

Source: ABC News October 17, 2017 16:52 UTC