Murder of Pamela Mastropietro

Pamela Mastropietro was an 18-year-old Italian woman who was last seen on 29 January 2018. She was murdered soon after in Macerata, Italy. Her murderer, a Nigerian migrant drug dealer named Innocent Oseghale, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with 18 months of isolation in May 2019; the sentence was confirmed on appeal in October 2020.[3][4] The murder caused public outrage, anger, and anti-immigrant sentiment in Macerata.

Murder of Pamela Mastropietro
Pamela Mastropietro
Born23 August 1999[1]
Rome, Italy
Died30 January 2018(2018-01-30) (aged 18)
Macerata, Marche, Italy
Cause of deathKnife wounds leading to blood loss and suffocation
BurialCampo Verano, Rome[2]
ConvictedInnocent Oseghale[3]

Background

Mastropietro was born and lived in Rome. She was 18 years old, and had moved away from the recovery community for drug addiction where she was a guest in Corridonia, Marche region, on 29 January. Her mother stated that Mastropietro began abusing drugs after dating a Romanian man, and was living in a drug treatment centre at the time of her death. When she left the community, she did not take her mobile phone and identification documents. She is believed to have sought drugs in Diaz Gardens, a known gathering place for dealers, addicts, and criminals.[5]

Mastropietro's funeral was held on 29 May 2018 at Rome's Ognissanti church, before burial at Campo Verano. Flowers were left by the local Nigerian community and diplomatic staff, Rome mayor Virginia Raggi and also Luca Traini, who shot several African migrants in Macerata days after the murder.[2]

Murder and investigation

Mastropietro's body was found severely mutilated, hidden in two suitcases; though she was believed to be a murder victim, the exact cause of her death had not been determined as of February 2018.[6] Soon after, Italian police said they found her bloodied clothing at the home of Innocent Oseghale, a Nigerian who moved to Italy in 2014 but who had dropped out of a refugee assistance program and begun selling drugs.[5][7][8] Oseghale, described as "a 29-year-old Nigerian with an expired residency permit and a criminal record of drug dealing," was arrested soon after the body and clothing were found. Along with Oseghale, police arrested two other Nigerian men.[9]

An autopsy in March 2018 showed that the cause of death was two abdominal stabbings, and not an overdose as alleged by Oseghale.[10]

On 7 June 2018, the magistrate of Macerata, Giovanni Maria Manzoni, dropped orders of detention on charges of murder, vilification, and destruction and concealment of corpse, against the two men accused alongside Oseghale; these two men remained in prison for heroin charges.[11]

Matteo Salvini, the newly-elected deputy prime minister and interior minister, has often mentioned the Mastropietro murder as part of his hard-on-crime policies and skepticism towards immigration.[5]

Alessandro Meluzzi, a psychiatrist and criminologist, has alleged that the murder was associated with Nigerian organized crime gangs.[12]

A former 'Ndrangheta member named Vincenzo Marino who had shared a cell with Oseghale was called as a key witness against Oseghale's claim that Mastropietro died of a heroin overdose and his only responsibility was the dismemberment. In Marino's testimony, Mastropietro threatened to call the police on Oseghale, who then stabbed her in the liver. He went back to Diaz Gardens to find an unnamed friend to help conceal the body, then began dismembering her. As she unexpectedly still showed signs of life, he stabbed her again.[13] Marino also said that Oseghale mentioned being in the Nigerian mafia.[14]

Between her escape from the rehabilitation clinic and her arrival in Macerata, Mastropietro was given lifts in two local men's cars. Both men were accused of rape for having sex with her while she was not mentally capable of giving consent. The cases were closed by the court in June 2020 as such charges could only have been brought against the men by Mastropietro herself.[15]

In October 2020, Mastropietro's ex-boyfriend, 22-year-old Romanian Claudiu Nitu, was sentenced to three years in prison for attempting to introduce her to prostitution in order to pay for drugs.[16]

Mastropietro's uncle, lawyer Marco Verni, took the knee in her memory during court proceedings during the George Floyd protests in 2020. He said that while he sympathised with Floyd's cause, he disagreed with some murder victims having more public and political support than others.[17][18] A year earlier he published a photograph of her decapitated head, justifying his decision by pointing to pro-migrant activists who share photographs of drowned migrants.[19]

See also

References
  1. "Oggi Pamela Mastropietro avrebbe compiuto 19 anni" [Today Pamela Mastropietro would have turned 19]. PicchioNews (in Italian).
  2. Frignani, Rinaldo (5 May 2018). "I funerali di Pamela Mastropietro a Roma. La famiglia: «Contro barbarie vogliamo giustizia»" [Pamela Mastropietro's funeral in Rome. Family: "We want justice against barbarity"]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  3. "Pamela: confermato ergastolo a Oseghale" [Pamela: life sentence confirmed for Oseghale] (in Italian). ANSA. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  4. Brera, Paolo G. (29 May 2019). "Innocent Oseghale condannato all'ergastolo per l'omicidio di Pamela Mastropietro" [Innocent Oseghale condemned to life in prison for murder of Pamela Mastropietro]. La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  5. Jason Horowitz (July 7, 2018) This Italian Town Once Welcomed Migrants. Now, It’s a Symbol for Right-Wing Politics, The New York Times, accessed 28 July 2018
  6. "'Stop the violence': Italians march to remember woman found dismembered in Macerata". www.thelocal.it. 7 February 2018.
  7. Il Fatto Quotidiano, 31 January 2018.
  8. Corriere 21 February 2018.
  9. Jones, Thomas (13 February 2018). "Fischia il vento". London Review of Books blog. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  10. Gaita, Luisa (3 March 2018). "Pamela Mastropietro, seconda autopsia: la 18enne è morta per due coltellate al torace e non per overdose" [Pamela Mastropietro, second autopsy: the 18-year-old died from two stabbings in the abdomen and not from overdose]. Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  11. "Pamela:revocato carcere per omicidio a 2" [Pamela: jail for murder revoked for 2 men] (in Italian). ANSA. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
  12. ""Perché le hanno mangiato il cuore": Pamela, parla il criminologo: la ricostruzione mostruosa sui nigeriani / Foto". www.liberoquotidiano.it.
  13. "Omicidio Pamela, il superteste in aula accusa Oseghale: "Non era morta, l'ha uccisa lui"" [Pamela's murder, the key witness in court accuses Oseghale: "She wasn't dead, he killed her"] (in Italian). Sky TG 24. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  14. "Pamela Mastropietro, il superteste accusa Oseghale dell'omicidio: "Mi disse che era stato lui a ucciderla e farla a pezzi"" [Pamela Mastropietro, the key witness accuses Oseghale of murder: "He told me it was he who killed her and cut her up"]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 6 March 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  15. "Pamela Mastropietro, archiviate le indagini per violenza sessuale. L'avvocato: "Mancava la querela? Certo, è stata uccisa 24 ore dopo"" [Pamela Mastropietro, investigations of sexual violence closed. Lawyer: "There wasn't a complaint? Of course, she was killed 24 hours later]. Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 20 June 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  16. Di Lascio, Serafina (21 October 2020). "Condannato a 3 anni l'ex di Pamela Mastropietro: ergastolo per l'assassino" [Pamela Mastropietro's ex sentenced to 3 years: life sentence for the murderer] (in Italian). Metropolitan Magazine. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
  17. "Caso Mastropietro, Marco Verni in ginocchio come per Floyd" [Mastropietro case, Marco Verni on knee like for Floyd] (in Italian). Yahoo!. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  18. "Via Spalato, familiari inginocchiati" [Via Spalato, relatives on knees]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 10 June 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  19. Aghemo, Marilyn (29 August 2019). "Omicidio Mastropietro, il 'gesto estremo' dello zio tuona sul web: "Pronto a mostrarvi tutto"" [Mastropietro murder, the 'extreme gesture' of her uncle shocks the web] (in Italian). Letto Quotidiano. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
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