Eight years and nine months to 36-year-old Francesco Pesante, 4 years and two months each to forty-year-old Alessandro Aprile and 33-year-old Antonio Salvatore (both for complicity in attempted extortion and injuries): this is what the judges of the first section of the Court of Justice decided. ‘Bari’s appeal in the proceedings against three members of the Sinesi-Francavilla battery – according to what colleagues from the Gazzetta del Mezzogiorno report – convicted for the events that occurred on 5 September 2016, when in the home of the owner of a car park on State Road 16, they attacked Vincenzo D’Angelo with kicks and punches and fired several gunshots at the building, also killing the guard dog.
The association demanded 80 thousand euros as the sum of a completely non-existent credit. On 7 October 2016, the flying squad arrested five individuals, including Rodolfo Bruno, the well-known member of the Moretti-Pellegrino clan who was killed on 15 November 2018. Two of the five defendants, including a man from Torremaggiore, were acquitted by the Gup in October 2018.
At the end of the meeting, they threatened D’Angelo with death, mimicking the gesture with their hands. Given the victim’s resistance, the threat turned into action. In fact, less than an hour later, the criminals came to grips with the crime and by car, all four of them crossed the gates of the car park.
The victim was attacked by four people with kicks and punches in front of his wife and children. An uncle of the owner was also involved in the beating and managed to escape from the criminals and take refuge in the house, against which the members of the criminal group fired numerous shots.
The guard dog of the car park was killed in the raid. The images from the video surveillance system proved to be fundamental for the success of the investigations. Three 7.65 caliber shell casings were recovered on site (two outside the structure, one inside) and a 22 caliber bullet.
Francesco Pesante – convicted of attempted murder, attempted extortion and illegal possession of common weapons and firearms – was tracked down and captured in November of the same year, in an apartment in Via Lucera, the 28-year-old, thanks to a series of technical activities launched against family members and associates in the aftermath of the fugitive.
