Pozzuoli – Fifteen years later, the circle closes on a Camorra murder that has long remained unsolved: that of Carmine Campana, a man considered at the time the "protégé" and treasurer of the Beneduce clan, as well as a manager of extortion rings.
A target chosen not by chance, but to strike at the heart of Pozzuoli boss Gaetano Beneduce: eliminating the person closest to him.
The breakthrough came with the consistent statements of two collaborators of justice, considered central to the reconstruction, and with a series of investigative findings. The Carabinieri of the Pozzuoli company executed a precautionary detention order against four people. The order was issued by investigating judge Antonino Santoro at the request of the Naples District Anti-Mafia Directorate.
Those arrested are Ferdinando Aulitto, 59, known as "capellone"; Salvatore Cianciulli, 39, aka "masaniello"; Mario Pagliuca, 46, known as "marittiello," brother of the informer Procolo; and Leonardo Tortorella, 55, Mario's brother-in-law. Aulitto and Cianciulli are already detained for other Camorra crimes; Pagliuca and Tortorella were arrested at dawn.
The same investigation also includes Procolo Pagliuca and Gennaro Alfano, indicated as the instigator and executor who confessed to the crime: no precautionary measures were issued for them precisely because they are collaborators with justice.
The feud and the choice of target: "hit the boss through his key man"
To understand the crime, we need to go back to the years of the feud that, between 2007 and 2010, bloodied the Phlegraean Fields and surrounding areas. On one side, the Beneduce family; on the other, the Longobardi, with the support of the Pagliuca-Sarno group. A war for power and control over territory, extortion, and drug trafficking, which left a trail of victims.
According to investigators' reconstruction, the Campana murder arose within this fracture. The decision was apparently made in Secondigliano prison: a "cell-room" planning process, in just a few square meters, where everything was discussed, even the weapon to be used.
According to the story included in the documents, a gun was even "donated" by a veteran of the clan as part of an affiliation ritual: a step that marks the ambition of Procolo Pagliuca, head of the Toiano district, ready - according to the prosecution - to break old balances and build his own autonomy.
The objective, according to investigators, was twofold: revenge for a feud and the conquest of criminal territory. Pagliuca, with the support of Aulitto (who at the time was reportedly affiliated with the Beneduce family), allegedly aimed to seize control of the main levers of power in the area: drug dealing and extortion of Pozzuoli's merchants.
The ambush of May 15, 2010: nine shots fired in the parking lot of the coffee shop
On the morning of May 15, 2010, in Licola, the assassination expedition entered its execution phase. Campana was found in the parking lot of a café near the SS7 Quater junction. He was in a car, a Smart For Two.
According to the reconstruction, the shooter was Salvatore Cianciulli, riding a Yamaha T-Max driven by Gennaro Alfano. The two, with their faces covered by full-face helmets, approached the car and fired nine shots from a .25-caliber pistol.
7,65, shots that leave him no escape.
In the reconstruction of the ambush, the "basemen" Mario Pagliuca and Leonardo Tortorella also appear to have played a key role. They are credited with logistical preparation (motorcycles, helmets, and weapons) and field support, shadowing and "chasing" the victim from two cars, until they covered the escape.
Traces erased: burned motorcycle, weapon in Lake Averno
After the murder, the strategy was apparently classic for Camorra crimes: eliminate the evidence and sever connections. The motorcycle was abandoned and set on fire in a field; the gun, however, was thrown into the waters of Lake Averno.
The reconstruction further reveals that Campana was not the only one targeted: in the previous days, another member of the Beneduce clan was allegedly followed, but that morning he was absent from the scene of the ambush.
"Sweets and Champagne": The party and the alleged initiation ritual after the murder
One of the most disturbing passages, reported in the documents through the collaborator's words, concerns what allegedly happened immediately after the crime: a party at the Pagliuca home, in the Toiano district, with sweets and champagne. A toast that, in the story, also becomes a second ritual of affiliation.
Procolo Pagliuca provides a specific detail, which investigators have incorporated into their overall reconstruction. "On the afternoon of the murder, I sent my brother Mario and Alfano Gennaro to Aulitto Ferdinando with a glass of champagne, telling them to tell Aulitto that it was the glass I had already drunk from."
And again, according to the story: Aulitto would have drunk and replied: "All right, say hello to him and give him a kiss."
These are phrases that, for investigators, describe not just a toast, but a language of belonging: the celebration of the murder as the "seal" of a pact and as an internal message of recognition.
The investigation and the turning point: findings and statements to close the cold case
The investigation that led to the arrests is reportedly based on two pillars: on the one hand, the technical-scientific findings and supporting evidence, and on the other, the incriminating evidence and detailed reconstructions by collaborators of justice, who identify the instigators, perpetrators, and insiders.
The result, fifteen years after the ambush, is a precautionary measure that redraws the map of responsibility surrounding a crime that symbolizes the bloody season of the Phlegraean feud: the murder of a "key man" in reaching the boss, targeting his closest circle.
Who are those arrested?
Ferdinando Aulitto, 59 years old (“long-haired”): already detained for other Camorra crimes.
Salvatore Cianciulli, 39, (“masaniello”): identified as the alleged killer; previously detained for other crimes.
Mario Pagliuca, 46, aka "marittiello" (a.k.a. "marittiello"), identified as a ringleader; arrested at dawn.
Leonardo Tortorella, 55, identified as a ringleader; arrested at dawn.
Roles according to the prosecution
Client (collaborator): Procolo Pagliuca.
Driving executor (collaborator): Gennaro Alfano.
Killer: Salvatore Cianciulli.
Bass players: Mario Pagliuca and Leonardo Tortorella.
(in the photo, from top left, the victim Carmine Campana, the killer Salvatore Cianciulli and two informants Gennaro Alfano and Procolo Pagliuca; bottom left, Ferdinando Aulitto, Mario Pagliuca and Leonardo Tortorella)
Changes and revisions to this article
- Article updated on 17/02/2026 at 06:08 PM - Content structure updated
Source EDITORIAL TEAM
Comments (1)
The article explains the dynamics of the murder and the people involved very well. It's interesting to see how justice finally found the culprits, but it's still saddening to see the violence that occurred in the past. Clan feuds are a complex phenomenon.