Naples. It was a Trojan injected into his cell phone that nailed Gennaro Petrucci, 73-year-old husband of anti-racket entrepreneur Silvana Fucito. Petrucci is accused of being the instigator of the murder of engineer Salvatore Coppola, killed in Napoli on 12 March last.
The investigating judge of Naples yesterday confirmed the arrest. The investigations brought to light a motive linked to a real estate dispute over a villa in Portici. Petrucci and his wife lived in this thousand square meter villa, which then ended up at auction. According to investigators, Petrucci had commissioned a hitman, Mario De Simone, to kill Coppola, believed to be responsible for the loss of the villa.
In the arrest warrant, investigating judge Antonio Baldassarre describes Petrucci as a man with a “lucid homicidal determination”. Despite his 73 years and his previous experiences, including criminal ones, Petrucci acted “without showing any weakness”.
The judge emphasizes the premeditation with which Petrucci organized the murder, planning every detail: the hiring of the killer, the supply of the gun, the theft of the car used for the getaway and the study of the victim's movements.
“Petrucci – writes the investigating judge – he demonstrated with his conduct a lucid murderous determination that cannot be overlooked, it is true that he could have been blinded by resentment towards Coppola (who he considered his downfall and responsible for the loss of his luxurious villa, ed.) but one cannot overlook the behaviors he put in place to achieve his purpose”.
Crucial to the investigation into the instigator, whom the judge called “brilliant,” were the activities involving the alleged killer, Mario De Simone, 64, the first to be stopped by the Naples Flying Squad for the murder without witnesses.
Also crucial were the wiretaps captured as part of another investigation, thanks to which the last contacts of Coppola, a former supporter of the Mazzarella clan, were reconstructed.
Thanks to the images, the alleged killer was identified, who acted alone, and who was limping. The escape on board a stolen car with certain characteristics allowed to arrive, also thanks to the satellite detection system of the car insurance, to the identification of De Simone.
By monitoring the telephone numbers of the brothers of the alleged murderer, it was discovered that the alleged hitman had confided in one of his brothers that he had killed a person and had sent several away from Naples. The brother, moreover, in the same phone call reproached him for having used a car equipped with GPS to commit the murder.
Further evidence then came from the environmental recordings intercepted after the questioning of De Simone's brothers, conversations in which he is indicated as the assassin in the pay (20 thousand euros) of a certain "Gennaro rò café", who according to the Flying Squad can be traced back to Gennaro Petrucci, so called because during a youth detention in prison he prepared coffee for the other prisoners.
Even the interceptions of conversations, even in code - defined as clumsy by the judge - with relatives in the Neapolitan prison of Secondigliano help the police a lot: it is thus discovered that De Simone had received only a part of the promised 20 thousand euros and that there were "fourteen like that" (14 thousand euros) left to have. Not only that.
During a conversation De Simone also clearly mentions the name of Gennaro Petrucci as the person to contact for the money. A task entrusted to his family members who go to a paint shop owned by the alleged instigator who, however, is already under control thanks to a Trojan injected into his cell phone.
(in the photo the place of the murder and in the boxes from the left the victim Salvatore Coppola, the killer Mario De Simone and the instigator Gennaro Petrucci)
Article published on May 3, 2024 - 09:24 pm
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