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British man to be extradited to Italy for Casoli murder trial

Michael Whitbread is wanted by Italian police on charges of killing his partner, Michele Faiers, who was found stabbed to death at their home in Abruzzo in October.

Published: 13 March 2024 16:10 CET

British man to be extradited to Italy for Casoli murder trial

Westminster Magistrates' Court, London, on Wednesday ruled in favour of the extradition of the prime suspect in the brutal murder of a British woman in Italy. (Photo by CARLOS JASSO / AFP)

Michael Whitbread, 74, is to face trial in Italy on charges of murdering his 66-year-old partner Michele Faiers after London’s Westminster Magistrates Court approved his extradition on Wednesday, Italian national broadcaster Rai News reported.

Whitbread was arrested in Leicestershire, England on suspicion of murder on November 1st, after Faiers’ body was found in the bedroom of the British couple’s converted farmhouse at Casoli near Chieti with nine stab wounds to her back and chest.

Prosecutors allege Whitbread drove from Italy to the UK after Faiers’ death, on a trip he told police was to visit relatives.

The extradition order was confirmed by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) on Wednesday. He now has seven days to lodge an application for permission to appeal.

The head of the extradition unit at the CPS, John Sheehan, stated: “Our thoughts are primarily with the grieving family of Michele Faiers. We ask that there be no speculation about the facts of the case, which may be subject to appeal, and so that Michael Whitbread can receive a fair trial in Italy.”

Italian prosecutors confirmed Whitbread’s first hearing had been set for November 22nd, Rai reported.

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Italy's Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

Liguria President Giovanni Toti, a right-wing former MEP who was close to late prime minister Silvio Berlusconi but is no longer party aligned, was placed under house arrest, Genoa prosecutors said in a statement.

The 55-year-old is accused of having accepted 74,100 euros in funds for his election campaign between December 2021 and March 2023 from prominent local businessmen, Aldo Spinelli and his son Roberto Spinelli, in return for various favours.

These allegedly included seeking to privatise a public beach and speeding up the renewal for 30 years of the lease of a Genoa port terminal to a Spinelli family-controlled company, which was approved in December 2021.

A total of 10 people were targeted in the probe, also including Paolo Emilio Signorini, who stepped down last year as head of the Genoa Port Authority, one of the largest in Italy. He was being held in jail on Tuesday.

He is accused of having accepted from Aldo Spinelli benefits including cash, 22 stays in a luxury hotel in Monte Carlo – complete with casino chips, massages and beauty treatments – and luxury items including a 7,200-euro Cartier bracelet.

The ex-port boss, who went on to lead energy group Iren, was also promised a 300,000-euro-a-year job when his tenure expires, prosecutors said.

In return, Signorini was said to have granted Aldo Spinelli favours including also working to speed up the renewal of the family’s port concession.

The Spinellis are themselves accused of corruption, with Aldo – an ex-president of the Genoa and Livorno football clubs – placed under house arrest and his son Roberto temporarily banned from conducting business dealings.

In a separate strand of the investigation, Toti’s chief of staff, Matteo Cozzani, was placed under house arrest accused of “electoral corruption” which facilitated the activities of Sicily’s Cosa Nostra Mafia.

As regional coordinator during local elections in 2020, he was accused of promising jobs and public housing in return for the votes of at least 400 Sicilian residents of Genoa.

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