A judge on Wednesday sent three
men to pretrial detention in jail and one to house arrest in the
beating death of Cape Verdian-Italian Willy Monteiro Duarte in a
town near Rome at the weekend.
The 21-year-old was beaten to death in the street in Colleferro
in a case that has shocked Italy.
He was allegedly attacked by the four after trying to defend a
friend of his from their alleged brutality.
The preliminary investigations judge in Velletri near Rome
upheld arrest warrants against the four: brothers Gabriele and
Marco Bianchi, Mario Pincarelli, and Francesco Belleggia.
The four, all in their early 20s, have been charged with
manslaughter.
Belleggia was the one who was given house arrest.
He reportedly told police he had seen the Bianchi brothers,
mixed-martial arts specialists who had allegedly been involved
in street violence before, kick and punch Willy.
The two brothers on Tuesday said they were innocent.
"We didn't touch him," the Bianchis told the 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 are from the nearby town of Artena.
Domenico Marzi, the lawyer representing Monteiro's family, on
Tuesday thanked Premier Giuseppe Conte for having called them.
"They were moved and surprised by Premier Conte's call," Marzi
said.
"In the name of the family, I thank Premier Conte for the
sensitivity shown by being supportive of those who have suffered
violence of this kind".
Willy has been described as a "fine lad" by the staff of the
hotel in Artena where he worked as a sous-chef.
"Everybody loved him, " said hotel director Nazareno d'Amici.
The Bianchi brothers' mother said Wednesday that her sons should
not be judged by photos of their gym-toned bodies poised for a
fight, MMA-style.
"People judge then from their Facebook photos but those are
nonsense," Antonietta Di Tullio told Milan-based newspaper
Corriere della Sera in an interview.
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