A man in Italy whose two teenage daughters were allegedly sexually molested by a priest, prompting one of the girls to commit suicide at the age of 15 in 2008, is under investigation for possibly hiring two hitmen to murder the priest, who was killed after he was released from prison. The 15-year-old girl committed suicide by hanging from a tree.
Father Guiseppe Matarazzo, 45, was killed on July 19 in Frasso Telesino , shot five times after he was released from prison after serving an 11-year sentence for abusing the two teenage girls. On Friday, Generoso Nastam, 30, and Giuseppe Massaro, 55, were arrested for the murder. Nastam is suspected of driving the car and using a pistol in the crime; Massaro is suspected of helping to plan the crime.
Benevento Chief Prosecutor Aldo Policastro told ANSA: “Those who commissioned the murder are to be found in the family milieu.” He confirmed the father of the daughters was under suspicion; he stated, “A rule of law can not tolerate revenge.”
According to Today.it, “It is very likely that there was also a third person to take part in the murder, which materially shot five gunshots at Matarazzo, two of whom were mortally wounded.”
According to Il Mattino, Massaro said that the Fiat Croma involved in the crime was registered to his wife. He stated, “My car was present in the territory of Frasso Telesino on July 17 and 18 because I had been commissioned by the organizers of the festival that takes place in Sant’Agata to check if posters had been posted to publicize it.” He claimed that his gun, a Magnum 357, which had been seized, had been kept by him in the safe and never given to anyone. He also offered an explanation to deal with documents mentioned in some phone calls. Il Mattino reported, “The documents, he said, were to be used to get some Italian friends of an Albanian friend to come to Italy. ‘I was also worried about a judicial case of extortion that involves me. And I also expressed this concern to Generoso Nista, whom I have known for some time because we have worked in the country in the past.’”
The funeral of Matarazzo featured posters displayed by his relatives; they claim that he had been convicted without evidence and that he was used as a scapegoat to hide others’ crimes. His sister Teresa published an obituary in which she claimed he was innocent and announced that she would fight “to make the truth come out.”
Under Italian law, anyone under 18 is a child. This is specified in the Civil Code at Article 2. This agrees with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Italy ratified on May 27, 1991. As the Council of Europe states, “The law of ratification of the Lanzarote Convention foresees the fact that not knowing the age of the person, minor of 18 years, cannot be considered an excuse in the crimes of reduction or maintenance in slavery or servitude, child prostitution, child pornography, possession of child pornography, tourism initiatives aimed at the exploitation of child prostitution, use of children begging, trafficking in persons, purchase and sale of slaves, sexual violence, sexual acts with a minor, gang rape, solicitation of a minor and corruption of minors.”