The Naples Court of Assizes of Appeal upheld the 23-year sentences for Giorgio Scaramella, Domenico Scaramella, Francesco Cirillo, and Antonio Cirillo, held responsible for the murder of Maurizio Cerrato.
The latter, custodian of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, was killed with a stab wound to the chest in Torre Annunziata, in the province of Naples, on April 19, 2021, over a parking issue.
The sentence was greeted with emotion by the victim's daughter, who cried while hugging her mother.
The Sentence on Appeal
The sentence was issued in courtroom 318 of the Court of Assizes of Appeal of Naples, presided over by Ginevra Abbamondi. Present in the courtroom were Cerrato's wife, Tania Sorrentino, and his daughter, Maria Adriana Cerrato, who was an eyewitness to the brutal crime and defended, together with her mother, by the lawyer Giovanni Verdoliva.
The Court found the first-instance sentence of 23 years of imprisonment to be just for each of the four defendants.
Request of the Public Prosecutor
The deputy attorney general of Naples, during the closing speech, had asked that the four defendants be sentenced to life imprisonment. However, the court maintained the sentence of 23 years established in the first degree trial. The defense team of the defendants was composed of the lawyers De Martino, Briganti, Montuori and Iorio.
Attendance and Reactions in the Chamber
Among those present in the courtroom was also the mayor of Torre Annunziata, Corrado Cuccurullo, who has joined the case as a civil party.
Domenico Scaramella, the only defendant still in prison at the time of the sentencing (while Francesco Cirillo was free), kissed two of his relatives at the back of the courtroom before being led out.
The confirmation of the sentence marks an important step towards justice for the Cerrato family, who hoped until the end for an exemplary sentence for the perpetrators of this atrocious crime.
EDITORIAL TEAM
Choose the social channel you want to subscribe to