(ANSA) - FOGGIA, 30 NOV - The sentence to life imprisonment was requested by the public prosecutor of the Dda of Bari Luciana Silvestri in the trial of Giovanni Caterino, 40, the only defendant in the Mafia massacre of San Marco in Lamis (Foggia), the one in which the boss of Manfredonia Mario Luciano Romito, his brother-in-law Matteo de Palma and the brothers Aurelio and Luigi Luciani were killed on 9 August 2017 because they were involuntary witnesses to the ambush.
Caterino is believed to be the basista of the armed commando, that is, the one who followed both in the days before and on the day of the ambush Mario Luciano Romito, 52, a prominent exponent of the homonymous family released six days before his killing and considered the real target of the killers.
In the indictment that lasted more than two hours, the prosecutor asked for life imprisonment for Caterino who has been detained since October 16, 2018 and who pleads innocent.
The prosecutor reconstructed the whole affair and the investigation: wiretapping, telephone records and gps analysis on the Fiat Grande Punto that the accused allegedly used to follow Romito.
Then the ambush which Caterino himself escaped on 18 February 2018 in Manfredonia wanted by the Romito and Moretti clans of the Foggia society to avenge another murder, that of Mario Luciano.
After the indictment, the lawyers of the civil party filed the defense requesting the sentence and the request for compensation. The defense is currently underway.
The trial due to the Covid emergency takes place behind closed doors with the sole presence of the trial parties.
(HANDLE).