Final sentences. The trial against the instigators of the murder of the lawyer has thus concluded Francis Pagliuso occurred on August 9, 2016. The Court of Cassation has in fact expressed its opinion on the second degree sentence regarding the instigators of the murder of the well-known criminal lawyer, rejecting the appeals presented by the lawyers of Luciano Scalise, Pino Scalise, Vincent Mary Dominic And Andrea Scalzoand partially accepting that of Angel Wheel.
This means that the sentences, handed down last June by the Court of Assizes of Appeal of Catanzaro, for the first four become definitive. In particular, the life sentence for Luciano Scalise is confirmed, 23 years and 10 months of imprisonment for Pino Scalise, 6 years and 8 months for Domenico and 7 years for Scalzo. On Rotella’s position, the Supreme Court partially annulled the sentence of conviction (eight years and four months) sending the case back to the second-instance judges of Catanzaro. The two Scalises, according to the prosecution, are the instigators of the brutal crime, inserted in the “feud between the Scalise clan and the Mezzatesta family”. Pagliuso would have been “guilty” of having “managed to obtain an important defensive result” in the trial for the double murder of Giovanni Vescio and Francesco Iannazzo “avoiding life imprisonment for his clients” Giovanni and Domenico Mezzatesta. Luciano Scalise would have decided to punish the victim for having “saved the Mezzatestas, responsible for the brutal double murder, from life imprisonment”. However, according to the Court of Assizes of Appeal, he could not have decided on such a sensational crime alone: ”Therefore, it could also be equally plausibly envisaged that Luciano Scalise asked for the approval of the Iannazzo clan alone for the murder of the lawyer Pagliuso rather than that of his father”.
