Francesco Pio Valda had attempted to kill Ciro Marigliano a month before the murder of the pizza chef

The high criminal character of Francesco Pio Valda, the almost 21-year-old murderer of the innocent pizza chef Francesco Pius Maimone It is told in the 300 pages of the precautionary order signed by the investigating judge Federica Colucci who this morning brought to prison 11 people including family members and members of the clan of Barra.

Just think that only a month before the murder at the Mergellina chalets of Francesco Pio Maimone together with Emmanuel Aprea (among the 11 arrested today) had attempted to kill Cyrus Marigliano while he was walking down the street. The target of the ambush managed to escape without being injured.

But it didn't end there because he was also a skilled bomber having placed a bomb alone in a fish shop in Via Martucci and then again together with Emmanuel Aprea in February 2023 he had placed another bomb in the mimosa park where the Ronza enemies live because they are allied with the Cockerel.

And again together with two others of today's arrests namely Salvatore Mancini and Pasquale Saiz another bomb was detonated at the "Solo 50 centesimi" business in Via Repubbliche Marinare 308, damaging the shutter.

 Francesco Pio Valda was also a serial bomber

"The numerous wiretaps, all very clear, that concern him, reveal an alarming and dangerous personality."This is how Federica Colucci describes it in the ordinance.

He was the boss together with his brother Luigi who controlled the clan's affairs from prison by making phone calls and giving directions. “with tasks of decision-making, planning and identification of all criminal actions to be carried out, objectives to be pursued, victims to be hit, requests to be made, profits to be distributed, also carrying out operational tasks”.

Another leading role was that of the grandmother Josephine Niglio, the organizer with "tasks of decision-making, planning and identification of all criminal actions to be carried out, the objectives to be pursued, the victims to be hit, the requests to be made, the profits to be distributed, also carrying out operational tasks".

 In addition to managing a drug dealing square, the grandmother distributed "months" to the affiliates

And still regarding the 75 year old the investigating judge writes: "through illicit profits from drug dealing activities, the payment of salaries to affiliates and the maintenance of prisoners as well as the sums necessary for the purchase of weapons to be used in the fight against other criminal groups"

Then there were relatives and friends of the Valdas who had various roles and ended up in the investigation for having "collaborated directly and personally with the top brass of the organization, carrying out operational functions in all criminal sectors of interest to the group, in particular those involved in extortion and territorial control, including in the sector of the sale of narcotics, including in that of the collection of extortion proceeds, in carrying out operational tasks and in fire actions".

The State Police, the Naples Prosecutor's Office, and even the investigating judge maintain that the conversations demonstrate "that he regularly carries weapons even when going to clubs or going out at night." But that's not all. He also allegedly "planned and executed a series of ambushes and acts of violence, including the detonation of explosive devices, to assert his control over the territory."

The safety net surrounding Francesco Pio after the Mergellina murder

After the murder of Francesco Pio Maimone, killed by a stray bullet on the night between March 19 and 20, 2023, on the Naples seafront, a protective network formed around Valda, as happened for his brother Luigi after the attempted murder, according to the judge, of Daniele Di Liberti, who had been targeted for supporting a criminal group opposed to the Valda-Aprea clan.

The precautionary measures issued today specifically concern the brothers Francesco Pio, Luigi and Giuseppina Valda, Emmanuel Aprea (of the Aprea crime family, a member of the Valda family and a companion in Pio's armed raids), Salvatore Mancini, Luigi Minichino, Giuseppina Niglio (grandmother of Francesco Pio and Luigi Valda), Giuseppe Perna (uncle of Francesco Pio and Luigi Valda), Antonio and Pasquale Saiz, and Pasquale Ventimiglia. Among these, in addition to Francesco Pio Valda, his sister Giuseppina, his grandmother Giuseppina Niglio, Salvatore Mancini, Giuseppe Perna, and Pasquale Saiz are also on trial before the Naples Court of Assizes for Maimone's murder.

THE 11 INVESTIGATED

APREA EMMANUEL, born in Naples on 15.02.2005
MANCINI Salvatore, born in Naples on 30.01.2001
MINICHINO Luigi, born in Torre del Greco (NA) on 1.07.1983
NIGLIO Giuseppina, born in Naples on 18.07.1949
PERNA Giuseppe, born in Naples on 11.08.1997
SAIZ ANTONIO born in Naples on 26.6.2004
SAIZ Pasquale, born in Naples on 30.04.2001
VALDA Francesco Pio, born in Naples on 16.08.2003
VALDA Giuseppina, born in Naples on 10.06.2000
VALDA Luigi, born in Naples on 10.05.1998
VENTIMIGLIA PASQUALE, born in Massa di Somma (NA) on 23.12.2002

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(in the photo from left Luigi Valda, Francesco Pio Valda, Giuseppina Niglio, Giuseppina Valda and Emmanuel Aprea, in the second row from left Pasquale Ventimiglia, Giuseppe Perna, Pasquale Saiz and Salvatore Mancini)