On August 30 an elderly married couple in Sicily were brutally murdered during a burglary and home invasion. A “youth” from Ivory Coast was eventually arrested as the primary suspect. As the investigation proceeded and more details emerged, it became clear that this crime was a particularly heinous one.
Here’s an early report from ANSA on the incident:
Ivorian Migrant Suspected of Killing Catania Couple
Victim’s daughter accuses the state of being responsible
(ANSA) — Catania, August 31 — A police forensic team searched for evidence overnight on Sunday after husband and wife, Vittorio Solano, 68 and Mercedez Ibaniz, 70, were discovered dead in their home in Palagonia near Catania. Police arrested an 18-year-old Ivorian man, Mamadou Kamara, who was found with blood-stained trousers as well as a mobile phone and clothes belonging to Solano in the Cara di Mineo migrant reception centre in June.
A police car went round to the couple’s home to investigate the burglary but discovered the killings instead.
Ibaniz’ body was found in the courtyard, while Solano was discovered inside, his body presenting clear signs of a likely scuffle.
“It is also the state’s fault if my parents were killed. They let these migrants come here and they do what they want, including burgling and killing” said the couple’s daughter Rosita Solano.
Investigators believe Mamadou may have had an accomplice.
But it got worse — an autopsy determined that the 70-year-old woman had been raped before she was murdered:
Autopsy Shows Possible Rape in Catania Killing
Mercedes Ibanez,70, killed along with husband near Sicilian city
(ANSA) — Palagonia, September 1 — Mercedes Ibanez, who was found dead at home with her husband at the weekend, may have been raped before being killed, a judicial source said on Tuesday following preliminary results of an autopsy performed overnight.
The source said the autopsy revealed “just clues, although they are various, that don’t give certainties”.
Final autopsy results will be filed with the prosecutor’s office within 60 days.
Ibanez, 70, and her husband, Vincenzo Solano, 68, were discovered dead in their home in Palagonia near Catania on Sunday.
Police arrested an 18-year-old Ivorian man, Mamadou Kamara, in connection with the killings.
The following news report from Italian television was broadcast shortly after the arrest of the suspect. Many thanks to par0 for the translation, and to Vlad Tepes for the subtitling:
Below are excerpts from four later ANSA reports. From September 1:
First Hearing Set for Ivorian Suspected of Killing Couple
Woman ‘may have been raped’
(ANSA) — Caltagirone, September 1 — A judge will rule in a hearing on Wednesday whether to confirm the Sunday arrest of Mamadou Kamara, an 18-year-old Ivorian man accused of killing a couple in Palagonia at the weekend, the Caltagirone prosecutor’s office said Tuesday.
At Wednesday’s hearing, chief prosecutor Vincenzo Verzera will ask the judge to order Kamara to be held in pre-trial custody in prison.
Autopsies on the bodies of both victims, Vincenzo Solano, 68, and his wife Mercedes Ibanez, 70, were completed during the night Tuesday, with an initial report to be filed with the prosecutor’s office by the end of Wednesday.
A judicial source said Ibanez may have been raped before being killed.
[…]
According to an initial report, the murder weapons may have been a screwdriver and a large pair of pliers. A judge on Tuesday signed an order allowing the bodies to be returned to the victims’ families for funeral ceremonies, which are scheduled to take place on Wednesday at 5 p.m.
Police arrested Kamara Sunday after he was found with blood-stained trousers as well as a mobile phone and clothes belonging to Solano in the Cara di Mineo migrant reception centre, where he had been living since June.
The couples’ daughter, Rosita Solano, on Monday blamed the government as “also” responsible for the killings.
[…]
On Tuesday, Solano challenged Premier Matteo Renzi to “show his face” in Palagonia.
“The death of my parents evidently doesn’t even merit a tweet from Premier Renzi or Minister Alfano,” Solano said.
“I want justice, not political controversy. Renzi, come talk to me, show your face, before the funeral,” she said.
From September 2:
Mourners Pay Respects to Murdered Sicilian Couple
Renzi says the guilty, even if immigrant, must pay
(ANSA)- Rome, September 2 — Mourners in Sicily continued Wednesday to pay their last respects to a married couple murdered during an attempted burglary of their home on August 30. An 18-year-old Ivorian immigrant and resident of a shelter for asylum seekers is under investigation for the double murder.
“Facing hardline issues of responsibility and seriousness, he who makes a mistake must pay fully, up to the last day,” Italian Premier Matteo Renzi told the radio station RTL 102.5 on Wednesday, making reference to crimes implicating immigrants that recently have made headlines in Italy.
Renzi also warned that the threat of “terrorism should not be underestimated” regarding illegal immigrants flocking to Europe.
Investigators say Vincenzo Solano, 68, and Mercedes Ibanez, 70, were killed in their house in Palagonia, a town in southeastern Sicily, when an intruder attempted to rob them. The wake has been organised in the town hall and a prayer vigil held in the local parishes. The funeral will be held at 5:00pm and presided over by the bishop of the town of Caltagirone, Monsignor Calogero Peri.
From September 3:
Ivorian Accused of Killing Sicily Couple to Stay in Jail
Judge accepts prosecutor request for pre-trial custody in prison
(ANSA) — Catania, September 3 — An 18-year-old Ivorian man accused of killing a couple in Palagonia in Sicily at the weekend must remain in prison ahead of trial, a judge ruled on Thursday.
Mamadou Kamara is accused of killing Vincenzo Solano, 68, and his wife Mercedes Ibanez, 70, while attempting to rob their villa on August 30.
The judge in Caltagirone accepted the local prosecutor’s request for Kamara to be held in pre-trial custody in prison.
From September 4:
Sicily: Prosecutors Accuse Arrested Ivorian of Rape
Following autopsy of couple killed near Catania
(updates previous). (ANSA) — Caltagirone, September 4 — Prosecutors formally accused Mamadou Kamara, an 18-year-old Ivorian arrested Sunday in connection with the killing of a couple in their home in Palagonia near Catania, of having raped the woman victim, Mercedes Ibanez, 70.
“The autopsy provided definite evidence that the Ivorian abused the woman,” said prosecutor Giuseppe Verzera.
Video transcript:
| Murder Palagonia, here is the scene of the crime | ||
| Account by Antonio Salvago, director of the Mobile Squad in Catania | ||
| 0:03 | At 23.58 the Ivorian citizen leaves the Cara di Mineo Centre with a rucksack with one strap, colour orange. | |
| 0:15 | He goes out on a bicycle. | |
| 0:18 | At 2.13 he goes along Via Palermo in the direction of the home of the deceased couple. | |
| 0:23 | We can still see this person with the aforementioned rucksack, although we can’t see the colour, | |
| 0:30 | but it is a one-strap rucksack; this is absolutely clear. | |
| 0:34 | At 2.16 you can see him moving along the little road which leads exclusively to the couple’s house. | |
| 0:45 | There is no doubt that the Ivorian citizen is in there. | |
| 0:50 | As we told you, all the personal effects that we have subsequently found confirm this. | |
| 0:52 | At 5.14 am the Ivorian citizen appears again on this short road. | |
| 1:03 | At 5.15 he is spotted again. At 5.22 the Ivorian is seen with the rucksack attached to the bicycle. | |
| 1:16 | The rucksack which is found when he returned to the Cara di Mineo Centre, | |
| 1:20 | and a similar rucksack was found and confiscated in the house of the couple, | |
| 1:25 | which he had brought to contain the items he stole from the house. | |
| 1:30 | At 6.20 he returns to the Cara di Mineo Centre where there is his inspector from the Italian army, | |
| 1:37 | who checks him in. | |
| 1:40 | Thus we are certain that he is the perpetrator of the crime. | |
| 1:48 | He was, say, less than three hours in the house, | |
| 1:53 | bearing in mind that the [evidence at the] scene of the crime is very strong. | |
| 1:55 | He had an easy time of it because there no one passes by and there are no other adjacent properties, | |
| 2:01 | except for the commercial premises of the supermarket, | |
| 2:03 | so thus there was absolutely no possibility that he could have been detected. | |
| 2:08 | He is able to climb over the wall of this residence where there is a ladder, | |
| 2:15 | which he used to climb up to the first floor where the couple lived. | |
| 2:21 | It is summertime, so the doors were open; there is no sign of a break-in, | |
| 2:32 | and we are of the opinion that the weapon used to kill Vincenzo Solano | |
| 2:41 | could be an industrial extractor fan, bearing in mind that Mr Solano was a manual worker, | |
| 2:52 | a mechanic, and the lower part of his house had a workshop. | |
| 2:59 | So there was this extractor with big teeth, which we believe was used to kill the victim, | |
| 3:06 | also a pair of nippers which show evidence of being involved, and probably also a stool | |
| 3:14 | that was used in the attack on both of the victims. | |
| Giuseppe Verzera — Procurator of Caltagirone | ||
| 3:18 | Let us not forget that this individual also sexually assaulted the lady before killing her. | |
| 3:26 | From the investigations carried out by the Coroner, it has been confirmed that this person raped the victim. |
Hat tip for the articles: Insubria.
“The death of my parents evidently doesn’t even merit a tweet from Premier Renzi or Minister Alfano,” Solano said.
Maybe they can send an amateur women’s choir to come around to her house to sing to her about the glories of invasion.
Do we know the “faith” of the alleged perpetrator?
I haven’t seen it mentioned. Côte d’Ivoire is reckoned to be about 39% Muslim (as of 2004), so it’s hard to be certain.
His name is “Mamadou” – which would indicate not only roots in the Religion of Peace, but a Mohammed coefficient of 100%?!
It is a shame that capital punishment is no longer on the books in the otherwise wonderful country of Italy.
Even head hunters are less savage than this guy.
There’s no way all these invaders should be allowed to stay especially when the population isn’t armed and able to defend themselves.
I would not be surprised if the suspect’s IQ is sub-70. The reason I mention that is that he probably does not feel any sense of responsibility for the victims’ fate, and that his defense is most probably going to be that he is mentally ill.
But not sufficiently mentally ill to preclude him from seeking greener pastures, and on arrival at his destination, do some reconnaissance and then target an elderly couple with the intent to rape, kill and rob?
“I would not be surprised if the suspect’s IQ is sub-70…”
Actually, low IQ doesn’t necessarily imply a lack of sense of responsibility, and visa-versa. They’re two different questions.
There’s a lot of evidence that behavior is genetically-influenced in the same way as IQ…except they are not necessarily the same genes.
In the massive waves of immigration from sub-Saharan Africa, we get a two-fer: an average IQ approaching retardation, and a genetic predisposition to random and extreme violence.
To make the brew even more interesting, these people are going to be overwhelmingly on public assistance, sucking resources away from productive Europeans. In other words, the reproduction of sub-IQ, genetically-violent individuals is subsidized at the expense of the reproduction of native, productive Europeans.
Yes, exactly.
Whenever I read conclusions such as yours, I’m reminded of the following (from Chapter 55 of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu:
This is not the way of Tao.
Whatever is contrary to Tao will not last long.
Jesus you sound like you’re making excuses and rationalizing for the creature who savagely killed what was to him no more than two kuffars. This creature is a diseased invader carrying the worst type of leprosy any country can be inflicted with – Islam. Where is your concern for the victim’s family – the fear being felt in the community? Rational solutions?
His first name’s given as Mamadou, which wikipedia tells us is ‘derived from the Arabic Muhammed’. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamadou)
Well! That gives this case a Mohammed Coefficient of 100%, then.
No Baron, that’s only 50% Mo- coefficient – as police believe he had an accomplice who is yet to be caught. My opinion would be that he could not have acted alone to do what he did.
I’m increasingly doubtful whether everything can be blamed on Mohammed Coefficient, Baron.
I never said it could. But there is a correlation between a high MC and a lot of bad stuff — rape, arson, larceny abuse of women, murder. The more Mohammeds, the more of those nasty things you’re likely to have.
Robbery, rape and murder…gosh, do you think this might affect that guy’s asylum application? Nah, probably not. After all, he was just practicing his “culture,” and it would be racist to discriminate against him for that.
Robbery, rape and murder. To the west, those are crimes. To the Islamic world, those are bullet points on a resumé.
True.
You know, I’m thinking that if these nice women from Holland would’ve sang a song to this poor young gentleman, he quite possibly would’ve not done what he did.
Will this get a similar amount of attention and reaction as the death of Alan Kurdi? I’m still waiting for the outraged Twitter posts from celebrities.
But perhaps it can serve to the influence of the current wave of “cultural enrichment” taking place in Southern Europe. And, much as I understand the desperate situation of many of the “migrants”, the people who are living in Southern Europe did not make a choice to go anywhere, and make any border crossing (from one safe country to another). Their whole lives may have been in those villages, which all of a sudden find themselves in mob rule, something akin to London in August 2011 (but with far worse behaviour happening). So perhaps everyone can spare a thought for the inhabitants – the innocent victims in the path of the influx?
As for this particular case – if the path only lead to this couple’s house, it seems he (and his accomplice) were out to get the couple personally… Could this have then been premeditated, perhaps the settling of an earlier confrontation – after which the assailant decided he needed to do something to “keep his honour”?
The murder of Kate Steinle has finally sparked public criticism of sanctuary cities in the U.S. Perhaps this atrocity will do the same regarding “sanctuary” policies in Italy and Europe.
Don’t these Migrant Centres have night time curfews?
The fact that he was ‘signed in’ on his return suggests that migrants were allowed to come and go whenever they pleased.
It’s stated that he is eighteen years old. He looks older than 18, more like mid 20s.
As for the poor couple, what did this monster do to them in the three hours he apparently spent in their home, before he murdered them?
This scum should be handed over to the “Cosa Nostra”, their version of punishment would make sure justice is done.
They should of [intemperate suggestion redacted]! Don’t mess with Sicilians!