Boscoreale - A Camorra murder took place on the night between Saturday and Sunday in the heart of Boscoreale, in Piazza Pace, where eighteen-year-old Pasquale Nappo was fatally hit by a single bullet fired from a moving motorbike.
A few hours later, two young men—Giuseppe Esposito, 18, and Antonio Abbruzzese, 23—presented themselves to the Carabinieri in Torre Annunziata, accompanied by their lawyer Mauro Porcelli, confessing to being responsible for the raid.
Their version of events, however, does not convince the investigators.
The two's version: "Gunshots fired after an attack."
In front of the military and the magistrate on duty, Esposito and Abbruzzese told a story that, according to them, was the prelude to a tragic accident.
They reportedly said they had been attacked by a group of youths from Boscoreale, and that they had returned to the scene shortly afterwards only for a "demonstrative gesture", without the intention of killing anyone.
According to their reconstruction, while they were still in shock from the attack, Esposito—riding as a passenger on the motorcycle driven by Abbruzzese—fired "blindly," without aiming.
An act, they claim, dictated by anger and fear.
"After being beaten and threatened," stated Porcelli, "my clients reacted impulsively. They didn't mean to hurt anyone in particular, but simply to defend themselves."
Investigators' hypothesis: "A targeted ambush"
A thesis that the Naples District Anti-Mafia Office, with prosecutor Sincero, deputy prosecutor Ferrigno, and chief prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, completely rejects.
According to initial investigative reconstructions, in fact, it was not a sudden reaction but a planned action, developed as part of the war for control of drug dealing in the Boscoreale area.
The investigation by the Carabinieri of the Torre Annunziata investigative unit aims to verify the movements of the two boys before and after the murder.
Immediately after the raid, according to what has emerged, Esposito and Bruzzese returned home, changed their clothes, and spent the night in the bars of Chiaia, in Naples, in an attempt to throw off the investigation.
A behavior that, for the investigators, contrasts with the image of two "frightened and repentant" boys that the defense is trying to credit.
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Furthermore, the two did not indicate the location of the 7,65 caliber pistol used to fire the gun: the weapon has not yet been found.
The context: the square, the drugs and the underground feud
Piazza Pace, in the center of Boscoreale, has long been a gathering place for young people but also one of the most sensitive areas for law enforcement.
In recent months, tensions have grown between groups of young people linked to different criminal circles, against the backdrop of a new division of drug dealing areas.
It is in this context that investigators place the murder of Pasquale Nappo, believed not to be a random target but the intended target of an ambush.
A revenge or a warning, matured within a youthful Camorra war that has already led to other episodes of violence in the Vesuvian area.
Antonio Nappo, the young victim's older brother, has been in prison since last summer after being arrested on a ferry to Sicily while carrying a large quantity of drugs hidden in a suitcase with a young woman.
An arrest warrant has been issued against Esposito and Abbruzzese on charges of murder aggravated by premeditation and mafia-related methods.
The Naples Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office, working with the Torre Annunziata Carabinieri, is now gathering objective evidence: CCTV footage, witness statements, and traces left at the crime scene.
Only the next few hours will tell whether the two young men's version—that of a sudden reaction—will stand up to the truth emerging from the investigation.
For now, what remains is the image of a blood-stained square and two young men barely out of their teens who, caught between fear, anger, and criminality, chose to respond to violence with more violence.
Comments (1)
This article discusses a tragedy in Boscoreale, but much of the information is unclear. The two young men who reported to the Carabinieri say they were attacked, but this version of events is hard to believe.