Altavilla Silentina – The 22-year prison sentence for Gerardo Cappetta, the 56-year-old found guilty ofmurder by Snejana Bunacalea, the caregivers Moldovan woman found lifeless on March 5, 2020 in the bathtub of the home of the elderly woman she was caring for.
The Court of Cassation rejected the appeal filed by the defense, confirming the sentence already issued in April 2023 and reaffirmed on appeal last June. According to the reconstruction of the Prosecutor's Office, fully accepted by the judges, the woman was not the victim of an illness or an accident, but was killed by Cappetta himself. The man, driven by jealousy, grabbed her and repeatedly immersed her head in the water until she died.
A former gas station attendant and Poste Italiane employee, Cappetta had fallen in love with the 43-year-old with whom he was having a clandestine relationship. The victim, according to what emerged in court, had agreed to bond exclusively with him on the condition that he marry her and allow her to bring their children to Italy. A prospect that terrified him, but that did not stop him from nurturing an obsessive jealousy towards the woman.
On the night of the crime, Snejana was getting ready to go out with her official boyfriend and celebrate her birthday early. A detail that would have unleashed the fury of the accused: first the attack with slaps, kicks and punches, then the lethal violence. The man immobilized her, hit her by pulling her hair and finally pushed her forcefully against the bottom of the tub, holding her under water until she drowned.
With the decision of the Supreme Court, the case is definitively closed: Gerardo Cappetta will have to serve his sentence without further appeals.
Article published on 22 February 2025 - 10:57
