Shock at the Licciardi restaurant: he argues with his brothers and kills them before ending it.

Apice – Silence and lead preceded the din of the banquets. The tragedy struck suddenly and devastatingly within the walls of the Licciardi Hotel and Restaurant, a historic venue for weddings and ceremonies perched on the hills of Apice. The toll was tragic: three bodies on the ground, all brothers, pierced by gunshots just before the restaurant opened for lunch.

The dynamics of the massacre

Those killed were Franco, Donato, and Gianni Licciardi, co-owners and well-known managers of the family business. According to initial investigations conducted by investigators, the main lead points to a devastating family tragedy: one of the three men allegedly pulled a firearm on the other two, killing them at point-blank range, before turning the gun on himself and pulling the trigger for the final, fatal shot.

On-site, the Carabinieri are carrying out forensic investigations to reconstruct the exact sequence of the shots and verify the possible presence or involvement of third parties at the time of the outburst.

A community in shock

News of the bloodshed in the elegant building quickly spread throughout Sannio, falling like a boulder on an incredulous community. Among the first to express the grief of an entire region was the mayor of Apice, Angelo Pepe: "They were workers; their business was well-known and established not only in the Benevento area, but also throughout the rest of the region. This is an incredible, unprecedented tragedy, which we are struggling to accept and which must now be clarified."

As investigators delve into the private and professional lives of the three partners to identify the motive for this incomprehensible act, the city is grieving for a family that everyone, until now, described as upright and dedicated to their work.