Vincenzo Solano
Died 30 August 2015
Who they were
Vincenzo was 68 and lived with his wife Mercedes in a villa in Palagonia, Sicily.
What happened
On 30 August 2015 Vincenzo and his wife Mercedes were attacked in their villa in Palagonia. Vincenzo was killed; Mercedes was raped and thrown from a balcony. An Ivorian asylum seeker from the CARA centre in Mineo was arrested the same evening with the victims’ clothes and belongings. The Catania assize court imposed life imprisonment in February 2019; the appeal court upheld it, and the Corte di Cassazione made the sentence final in 2022.
Verdict / confirmation
Corte di Cassazione, 2022: life imprisonment confirmed (Corte d'assise di Catania, 8 Feb 2019; upheld on appeal 9 Apr 2021).
Perpetrator: An Ivorian asylum seeker housed at the CARA reception centre in Mineo (LiveSicilia, Il Giornale Popolare).