A turning point in the trial for the brutal murder of Elson Kalaveri, the 36-year-old Albanian riddled with bullets on the street in Sasso Pisano on August 18, 2022.
Public Prosecutor Giancarlo Dominijanni today invoked the maximum penalty, asking for four life sentences with daytime isolation for those accused of premeditated voluntary homicide.
According to the prosecution, Kalaveri was the victim of a ruthless revenge in the name of “Canon”, the ancient Albanian customary code that provides for blood washing after killing family members.
The prosecutor has requested a life sentence for Qoli Shkelqim, 40 years old, resident in Castelnuovo Val di Cecina (Pisa), believed to be the "hijacker" who led the victim into the death trap of Sasso Pisano.
The same penalty was requested for the Neapolitans Valentino Tarallo and Giovanni Capone, indicated as the material perpetrators of the ambush in which 16 gunshots were fired.
The Prosecutor's Office has also identified in Deliu Shkelzen, alias Shkelzen Keqi, the principal of the murder. According to the investigators' reconstruction, Shkelzen would have orchestrated the assassination to avenge the death of his brother, who was injured in 2014 in Albania during a dispute with Kalaveri and died in 2019.
A marginal role and a collaborative attitude have instead earned a request for a 16-year prison sentence for Ivan Tolomello, the driver who accompanied the commando to Tuscany.
The trial will continue in the next hearings with the defense's speeches, while the sentence is expected in the next few weeks. The case sheds light on the dark dynamics linked to archaic traditions imported and perpetuated even far from their places of origin.
Article published on 30 April 2025 - 21:20
This article discusses a murder case that has attracted a lot of interest. It is important to understand how ancient traditions can influence people's actions, but I hope that justice will be done without further violence.