In Malta, investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated Monday when a powerful bomb planted in her car exploded near her home on the Mediterranean island nation. There’s been no claim of responsibility for the blast, although local media reported Galizia filed a police report in early October to report death threats. On Monday night, about 3,000 people gathered in a candlelight vigil to remember Daphne Galizia. This is Luke Frendo, a friend of her family.

Luke Frendo: “In my lifetime, it’s definitely the saddest day that I’ve lived. As a Maltese citizen, I think Daphne was not only a journalist and an absolutely fearless human being, but a fourth pillar of our democracy. And today’s heinous crime was not only against a human being, against a journalist, but against a pillar of everyone’s democracy.”

Daphne Galizia operated a popular blog where her reports cast some of Malta’s most powerful figures in a bad light—including bankers, casino operators, the country’s prime minister and its opposition leader. Galizia spent much of her time over the last two years reporting on revelations about Malta in the Panama Papers, a trove of more than 11 million leaked files that reveal how the rich and powerful in several countries use tax havens to hide their wealth.