Salvatore Ocone sentenced to life in prison for killing his wife and son with a stone.

The sentencing of Salvatore Ocone, the 59-year-old from Paupisi accused of killing his wife, Elisa Polcino, 49, and their son, Cosimo, 15, and seriously injuring his other daughter, Antonia, arrived on the symbolic first anniversary of the massacre.

The Benevento Assize Court sentenced Ocone to life imprisonment, granting the request made by Benevento's prosecutor, Nicola D'Angelo. Ocone was also sentenced to eight months of solitary confinement.

As for compensation, according to initial reports on the ruling, 80 euros were awarded to Antonia, her daughter, and 50 euros to Mario, her other son, who was not in the family home on September 30, 2025.

The verdict comes after a trial in which one of the central points was the one relating to the mental condition of the defendant.

The night of September 30, 2025

The tragedy occurred inside the family home in Paupisi, in the Benevento area.

According to the investigative reconstruction and forensic examinations, Ocone allegedly used a large stone weighing approximately 12 kilograms, taken from the home's garden, to strike his wife, Elisa, while she was in bed.

Autopsies determined that the woman and her son, Cosimo, died from severe head injuries. Forensic examinations also reconstructed different ways of attacking: Elisa was attacked while she was sleeping, while Cosimo was attacked later, when he was awake. Antonia was also attacked and sustained very serious injuries.

The escape to Molise

After the massacre, Ocone left Paupisi aboard his car, taking his two children with him.

Cosimo, now lifeless, and Antonia, still in agony, were in the back seat of the car. The escape ended in the countryside of Ferrazzano, in the province of Campobasso, after a manhunt that lasted several hours.

The car was located thanks to the intervention of a Carabinieri helicopter. Ocone was then arrested and transferred to prison. During questioning, he admitted his guilt and was formally charged with aggravated double murder, attempted murder, and kidnapping.

The twelve-kilo stone and the forensic examinations

Subsequent investigations helped to clarify the tragedy. The stone used to hit the victims was seized and subjected to examination. The autopsies, performed by forensic pathologist Francesco La Sala and other specialists appointed by the Prosecutor's Office, revealed cranial injuries consistent with the force of the blows.

Elisa's death was traced to a single, devastating blow to the head. Similar injuries were found on her son Cosimo, whose death would have occurred very quickly.

Antonia, six months between life and death

At the center of the story is the story of Antonia, the sole survivor of the massacre. She was initially transferred to the hospital in desperate condition and later admitted to Neuromed in Pozzilli, where she underwent a long course of treatment and rehabilitation.

For months, her condition remained extremely delicate. Then, in March 2026, news arrived of her return home, after about six months spent in healthcare facilities. Antonia had thus become the sole direct survivor of the family tragedy.

Paupisi's grief and the funeral

On October 10, 2025, Paupisi stopped to say his last farewell to Elisa and Cosimo.

The funeral took place in the Church of Santa Maria del Bosco, with a day of mourning declared throughout the city. Hundreds of people attended the service. During his homily, the Archbishop of Benevento, Felice Accrocca, appealed that similar tragedies should never be repeated.

It was the first collective moment of processing a tragedy that had shocked not only the family, but the entire community of the small Sannio town.

The immediate judgment

On the judicial front, the proceedings quickly moved towards a trial.

In March 2026, the investigating judge of the Benevento Court ordered an immediate trial against Ocone. The hearing was scheduled before the Assize Court presided over by Sergio Pezza.

The trial opened on May 20, 2026. The defense, represented by lawyer Giovanni Santoro, had requested a psychiatric evaluation to ascertain the defendant's condition both at the time of the events and with respect to his capacity to stand trial.

The Court granted the request. The crux of the matter was the question of mental capacity. This was one of the decisive points of the trial.

The defense had argued the presence of a psychopathological condition, while the Prosecutor's Office had already acquired an expert opinion according to which Ocone was capable of understanding and willing at the time of the events.

The expert assessment ordered by the Court was entrusted to Vincenzo Scarallo, medical director and psychiatrist at the Cotugno Hospital in Naples.

The report, filed last September, acknowledged elements of reality distortion, delusions, and hallucinations, but concluded that the defendant's main functional parameters were preserved. The expert's conclusion was therefore that he had the capacity to understand and decide at the time of the massacre and that he was competent to stand trial with full consciousness.

Ocone's story and the "devil" version

During the discussions with the expert, Ocone had provided his own explanation of what had happened.

He had claimed to have killed his wife because he believed she was "possessed by the devil" and had also linked the attack on his children to a need to protect them.

During the courtroom examination, however, psychiatrist Scarallo explained that he had found no evidence to suggest impaired mental capacity at the time of the incident. According to the expert's testimony in court, the man had acted out of anger and fear for his children's future, while the delusional statements emerged later.

The Prosecutor's request and the verdict

On September 30, 2026, exactly one year after the night of Paupisi, the time for the final discussion arrived.

The prosecution requested a life sentence. The defense instead emphasized the defendant's psychological vulnerability and the evidence relating to his medical history.

At the end of the deliberation, the Court sentenced him to life imprisonment, adding eight months of daytime solitary confinement.

The ruling represents the first judicial milestone in a case that, since September 30, 2025, has been the subject of investigations, autopsies, expert reports, an immediate trial, and a trial focused primarily on determining the defendant's mental health.

The weight of a family tragedy remains, in which a mother and a 15-year-old boy lost their lives, while a daughter, after months of treatment, managed to survive.

The sentence, of course, is the one pronounced in the first instance and may be submitted to the subsequent levels of judgment.