Two brothers who are among four people accused of beating to death a 21-year-old Cape Verdian-Italian in the street at Colleferro outside Rome on Saturday night on Tuesday said they were innocent.
Willy Monteiro Duarte died after a savage beating with kicks and punches after trying to defend a friend in a fight "We didn't touch him," Marco and Gabriele Bianchi, who are mixed martial arts practitioners, told a preliminary investigations judge in a hearing.
"We reject all the accusations.
"We intervened to break it up. We saw a brawl and we came.
"We are saddened and we are devastated because we are accused of a homicide we did not commit".
Duarte, who had only recently become an Italian citizen, was from Paliano near Frosinone, between Rome and Naples.
His four alleged assailants, who are in their 20s, are from the nearby town of Artena.
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