Prince believed to be referenced over the phone by kill team

The recording of journalist Jamal Khashoggi’s killing is believed to implicate Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, with people familiar with the recording believing one of the kill team members mentioned him during a phone call made immediately after the murder.

After Khashoggi was murdered, one of the kill team made a call to a superior instructing him to “tell your boss” that they’d finished the operation. The person who made the call was believed to be Maher Abdulaziz Mutreb, and the “boss” is widely believed to be the crown prince.

The Saudis have repeatedly denied that the crown prince had any knowledge of the killing, and furthermore have insisted that the killing was accidental, and not the intended result of the kill team’s deployment. The recording suggests both of these claims are false.

The Saudis have offered multiple versions of events, all attempting to exonerate the prince. None are believed to be credible, however, as they contradict things already known about the incident.