All acquitted.
The murder of Serena Mollicone, who died in Arce in June 2001, remains a 'cold case' without guilty.
The judges of the Cassino Court of Assizes, after a council chamber that lasted almost 9 hours, dropped the charges for the entire Mottola family with the formula "for not having committed the fact" and for the other two defendants: Vincenzo Quatrale, at the time deputy marshal and accused of external complicity in murder, and for the police officer Francesco Suprano who was challenged for aiding and abetting with the formula "because the fact does not exist".
Flyers with the face of Serena Mollicone posted outside the courthouse
After the reading of the sentence there were moments of strong tension both in the courtroom and outside the courthouse, with an attempted aggression against some defendants to the point that the police had to intervene to restore calm. .
No condemnation, therefore, for Marco Mottola, his father Franco, former commander of the Arce carabinieri and his wife Anna Maria.
The three were accused of voluntary homicide and the prosecutor had asked for sentences of up to 30 years.
"Today the truth came out, we have always said that we were innocent", Franco and Marco commented, while someone shouted "murderers and shame".
For its part, the Public Prosecutor takes note of the court's decision, admitting, however, that it has done everything possible in recent years to arrive at a truth about what happened in the Arce carabinieri barracks and announcing that it will appeal.
"It's a meanness but we don't stop, the truth is quite different", said Serena's uncle, Antonio Mollicone.
THE RECONSTRUCTION OF THE ACCUSATION
The fact remains that the accusatory system did not stand up to the scrutiny of the first instance judges.
According to the accusation, Serena was killed inside the barracks by Mottola jr who used the wooden door of the guesthouse as a weapon to kill: the twenty-year-old's skull was violently slammed against the jamb at the height of a quarrel.
Serena died, according to what has been ascertained by consultations and appraisals, after 5 hours of agony due to the adhesive tape on her mouth and nose.
According to the accusation, her parents would have dealt with the concealment of the body.
Again on the basis of the accusatory system, the young woman "after the violent blow against the door fell unconscious due to some skull fractures but could be rescued - explained the reconstruction of the expert's report of the biased coroner -. She was left, instead ,
in those conditions for four to six hours before being killed by the adhesive tape that was applied to her mouth and nose causing her suffocation. "The motive, according to the Cassino Prosecutor, was linked to a dispute that Marco Mottola had with Serena a few hours earlier. "Serena - explained the Cassino prosecutor - that day went to the dentist in Sora and then got on board Mottola's car for a ride.
She with him she stopped in front of a bar where she was seen arguing with the young man ".
Serena - explained the Cassino prosecutor - that day she went to the dentist in Sora and then boarded Mottola's car for a ride.
She with him she stopped in front of a bar where she was seen arguing with the young man ".
Serena - explained the Cassino prosecutor - that day she went to the dentist in Sora and then boarded Mottola's car for a ride.
She with him she stopped in front of a bar where she was seen arguing with the young man ".
The former commander of the Arce Carabinieri station Franco Mottola
The girl then went to the barracks to retrieve some books she had left in the car and there, according to the accusation, she was attacked.
The prosecutor also stated that it was Mottola's parents who dealt with the concealment of the body.
The night between 1st and 2nd June 21 years ago "Franco and Anna Maria Mottola take Serena's body into the woods", an element which, according to the accusation, is also confirmed by the analysis of the telephone records and the story of a witness.
In that grove, 8 kilometers from Arce, Serena was found on the morning of June 3, 2001: her body in a supine position in the midst of some shrubs, her head, with a conspicuous wound, wrapped in a plastic bag, hands and feet tied with scotch tape and wire.
Adhesive tape also on the nose and mouth.
The judges of the Court of
The Mottolas in the courtroom
Both, according to the indictment, knew what had happened in the barracks, but decided not to speak.
This was done, years later, by their colleague, Brigadier Santino Tuzi, who then committed suicide "because he was left alone by all those who knew, starting with his colleagues Suprano and Quatrale", claimed the accusation in the courtroom.
The sentence, for the moment, sweeps away this system of accusations and leaves a heinous crime without a culprit.