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CRIME

Mastermind of mafia’s child murder caught

The presumed mastermind of a mafia killing in which a three-year-old boy was murdered has been arrested, a year after the toddler was targeted in a drive-by shooting.

Published: 16 March 2015 13:25 CET
Mastermind of mafia's child murder caught
Police on Monday arrested the man believed to be behind the triple murder last year. Police photo: Shutterstock

Giovanni Di Napoli, 60, was arrested on Monday over the triple murder in Italy’s southern Puglia region, Ansa reported.

He is thought to have orchestrated the drive-by shooting on March 17th 2014, in the Palagiano area, in which toddler Domenico was killed.

The boy’s mother Carla Fornari was also murdered, along with her partner Mimmo Orlando.

The woman’s two other children, aged six and eight, reportedly survived by playing dead. The children’s biological father was murdered in 2011, Ansa said.

Di Napoli, who has in the past been convicted for mafia association and murder, is accused of ordered the family’s slaying to settle a personal dispute with Orlando.

When he was killed Orlando was being accompanied by Fornari back to prison, under the terms of a custodial sentence.

The killings shocked Italy and led to renewed debate over the mafia’s so-called “code of honour”, described as a myth in the wake of the toddler’s murder.

SEE ALSO: Child killing shows mafia 'code of conduct' is myth

The Puglia killings came just two months after another toddler was killed by the mafia in the Calabria region. The charred skeleton of Nicolino Campolongo was found in a burnt-out car along with the bodies of his grandfather, a convicted drug trafficker, and the man’s partner.

A 50 cent coin was left on the car bonnet, thought to be a symbolic move to show the value the killer put on their victims’ lives.

READ MORE: Mafia-linked killers put 50 cent price on child's life

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POLITICS

Italy’s Liguria regional president arrested in corruption probe

The president of Italy's northwest Liguria region and the ex-head of Genoa's port were among 10 arrested on Tuesday in a sweeping anti-corruption investigation which also targeted officials for alleged mafia ties.

Published: 7 May 2024 12:52 CEST
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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