Milan – Emanuele De Maria, the 35 year old of Neapolitan origin who took his own life yesterday by throwing himself from the spires of the Cathedral of Milan, had expressed his intention to ask for semi-liberty.
This was revealed by his lawyer, Daniele Tropea, who was legally following him. De Maria was the prisoner who, during an external work permit at a Milanese hotel, had stabbed a colleague and was suspected of the disappearance and subsequent death of a barmaid at the same hotel.
“I had spoken to him about it a short time ago,” declared attorney Tropea. “Next month I was planning to ask for semi-liberty for my client.”
The court documents reveal De Maria's complex detention history. Extradited from Germany to Italy on April 6, 2018, he was definitively sentenced to 14 years and 3 months of imprisonment, with a pre-suffering period of 2 months and 15 days. The sentence, obtained with an abbreviated trial, concerned the aggravated murder and threats to a young Tunisian woman, stabbed in 2016.
After being transferred to Secondigliano prison in Naples, De Maria was supposed to serve 14 years and 15 days. However, thanks to 465 days of early release, his sentence was scheduled to end on December 12, 2030.
A crucial step in his journey was his transfer, on November 30, 2021, from the Neapolitan prison to the “model” institute in Bollate, a facility intended for prisoners considered less dangerous. In Bollate itself, the supervisory magistrate had granted him admission to external work on May 22, two years ago, opening a window for his gradual social reintegration.
The revelation of the intention to ask for semi-liberty sheds an even more tragic light on the story of the suicide at the Duomo. The reasons that pushed De Maria to such an extreme gesture, just when the possibility of a less restrictive prison regime was emerging, remain unclear. The investigation into his previous actions and the disappearance of the barmaid continues, while his lawyer expresses his dismay at the dramatic epilogue.
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Comments (1)
De Maria's story is truly sad and thought-provoking. It is difficult to understand how a person can arrive at such an extreme gesture, especially after it seemed he had a chance of semi-liberty. His previous actions are complex and deserve attention.