A court questioned the man who was seen on camera killing a Nigerian street vendor in broad daylight and who afterwards claimed he wasn’t motivated by race.
Father-of-two Alika Ogorchukwu, 39, was allegedly murdered by Filippo Ferlazzo, 32, on Friday in Civitanova Marche, central Italy, as witnesses recorded the assault.
Roberta Bizzarri, the defence attorney, formally requested Ferlazzo’s psychiatric assessment today.
According to News Italy 24, which cited a court in his birthplace of Salerno, he has been identified as having bipolar disorder and recently underwent treatment at a local mental health facility.
Claudio Bonifazi, the investigating judge, cited Ferlazzo’s attorney as saying that the alleged killer “collaborated, apologised, and made it clear that there was no racial motivation.”
The findings of Alika’s autopsy will be released tomorrow.
“The incident occurred on a busy street and in front of shocked onlookers, some of whom made videos of the attack,” the Nigerian embassy in Rome said. “Little or no attempt was made to prevent it.”
Daniel Amanza, who directs the ACSIM organisation for immigrants in the Marche region’s Macerata province, claimed that Ferlazzo reportedly lost his cool when Mr. Ogorchukwu told the man’s girlfriend she was beautiful.
The Associated Press was told by Mr. Amanza that “this flattery destroyed him.”
The terrible reality is that many people were present. They recorded while yelling “Stop,” but nobody intervened to keep them apart,’ Mr. Amanza claimed.
The brutal killing of the father of two was caught on camera by bystanders who did nothing to physically stop it, inciting outrage online.
According to local news source ANSA, Italian police detained Ferlazzo, 32, for the alleged murder of Mr. Ogorchukwu and theft of the victim’s cell phone.
Following Ferlazzo’s movements using street cameras, police detained him on Saturday.
According to local media, Ferlazzo is presently being detained at the Montacuto prison in Ancona. It is rumoured that he won’t face any charges for racism.
According to one of the investigators, Matteo Luconi, “the case is fairly apparent; everything seems to have originated from a fight over trivial reasons, not racism.”
As Italy prepares for parliamentary elections in which the right-wing alliance has already made immigration a topic of contention, shocking video footage of the incident has gone viral on social media, inciting outrage.
According to the police, Mr. Ogorchukwu was peddling items when his assailant snatched his crutch and repeatedly hit him.
The victim fought back and was wrestled onto his back on the street by Ferlazzo, who then attempted to pin Mr. Ogorchukwu to the ground by climbing on top of him.
Charity Oriachi, the wife of Mr. Ogorchukwu, protested at the scene of the murder on Saturday and yelled, “Now I just want justice for my husband.”
The Democratic Party’s left-leaning leader, Enrico Letta, tweeted: “The murder of Alika Ogorchukwu leaves us dismayed.” the extraordinary ferocity. a general lack of interest. There is no justification possible.
In addition to expressing outrage over the death, right-wing leader Matteo Salvini, who is making security a centrepiece of his campaign, stated that “security has no colour and needs to return to being a right.”
The attacker attacked the victim, initially striking him with a crutch. Police investigator Matteo Luconi stated at a press conference that the attacker repeatedly struck the victim with his bare hands after causing him to fall to the ground.
Later, he revealed to Italian news outlet Sky TG24 that witnesses called the police, who arrived after the suspect had fled and tried to help the victim.
If the death was brought on by blows, suffocation, or another cause, an autopsy will reveal this information.
Mr. Luconi claimed that the attacker struck the victim after the seller made “insistent” requests for adjustment. Police were watching videos of the assault and questioning witnesses. They claimed that the suspect had not spoken out.
According to Mr. Amanza of the ACSIM association for immigrants, Mr. Ogorchukwu, who was married and had two children who were 8 and 10 years old, resorted to selling goods on the street after being hit by a car and losing his job as a labourer as a result of his injuries.
In 2018, a shooting spree in Macerata that targeted African immigrants left six persons injured.
The gunshots, which Italy’s top court determined qualified as a hate crime, resulted in the conviction of 31-year-old Luca Traini and a 12-year prison term.
After a large turnout at the crime scene on Saturday, Fabrizio Ciarapica, the mayor of Civitanova Marche, met with members of the Nigerian community.
Mr. Ciarapica said to Sky, “My criticism is not only for the (crime), but it is also for the indifference.” “This has stunned folks,” it says.