Murder of Pamela Mastropietro

Pamela Mastropietro was an 18-year-old Italian woman who was last seen on 29 January 2018. She was murdered soon after in Macerata, Marche. Her murderer, a Nigerian migrant drug dealer named Innocent Oseghale, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with 18 months of isolation in May 2019. The sentence was confirmed on appeal in October 2020.^[3][5] The murder caused public outrage, anger, as well as anti-immigrant sentiment in Macerata.

Murder of Pamela Mastropietro
Pamela Mastropietro
Born	(1999-08-23)23 August 1999^[1] Rome, Italy
Died	30 January 2018(2018-01-30) (aged 18) Macerata, Marche, Italy
Cause of death	Knife wounds leading to blood loss and suffocation
Burial	Campo Verano, Rome^[2]
Convicted	Innocent Oseghale^[3]^[4]

Background

Mastropietro was born and raised in a working class community in Rome. Mastropietro had been drawn to Macerata, a medieval town near the coast of the Adriatic Sea, for its tranquility. In her early teens, she began dating a Romanian drug dealer and became addicted to drugs.^[6]

Murder and investigation

At the time of her murder, 18-year-old Mastropietro had been staying for several weeks at a drug-treatment centre overlooking vineyards in the hills near Macerata. On 29 January, she left the rehabilitation centre to buy drugs at Diaz Gardens, a park outside Macerata's city walls characterized by sinuous roads, filled with drug dealers, many of whom were migrants. In the park, Mastropietro was believed to have been led to a 29-year-old Nigerian named Innocent Oseghale, who had arrived in Italy on 26 August 2014, during a peak migration period.^[6] On 31 January, police found Mastropietro's body dismembered and hidden in two suitcases. Although she was believed to be a murder victim, the exact cause of her death had not been determined as of February 2018.^[7] Soon after, Italian police said they found her bloodied clothing at the home of Innocent Oseghale, a Nigerian who moved to Italy in 2014 but who had dropped out of a refugee assistance program and begun selling drugs.^[6][8][9]

Mastropietro's funeral was held on 29 May 2018 at Rome's Ognissanti church, before burial at Campo Verano. Flowers were left by the local Nigerian community and diplomatic staff, Rome mayor Virginia Raggi, and Luca Traini, who opened fire against several African migrants in Macerata days after the murder.^[2]

Oseghale, described as "a 29-year-old Nigerian with an expired residency permit and a criminal record of drug dealing", was arrested soon after the body and clothing were found. Along with Oseghale, police arrested two other Nigerian men.^[10]

In February 2018, Alessandro Meluzzi, a psychiatrist and criminologist, alleged that the murder was associated with Nigerian organized crime gangs.^[11]

In March 2018, an autopsy showed that the cause of death was two abdominal stabbings, and not an overdose as alleged by Oseghale.^[12]

On 7 June 2018, Giovanni Maria Manzoni, the magistrate of Macerata, dropped orders of detention on charges of murder, vilification, and destruction and concealment of corpse, against the two men accused alongside Oseghale; these two men remained in prison for heroin charges.^[13] Matteo Salvini, the newly-elected Deputy Prime Minister of Italy and Minister of the Interior, often mentioned the Mastropietro murder as part of his hard-on-crime policies and skepticism towards illegal immigration.^[6]

In March 2019, a former 'Ndrangheta member named Vincenzo Marino, who had shared a cell with Oseghale, was called as a key witness against Oseghale's claim that Mastropietro died of a heroin overdose and his only responsibility was the dismemberment. In Marino's testimony, Mastropietro threatened to call the police on Oseghale, who then stabbed her in the liver. He went back to Diaz Gardens to find an unnamed friend to help conceal the body, then began dismembering her. As she unexpectedly still showed signs of life, he stabbed her again.^[14] Marino also said that Oseghale mentioned being in the Nigerian mafia.^[15] Marino said that Oseghale started dismembering Pamela while she was still alive, starting from one of her feet.^[16]

Subsequent events

Between her escape from the rehabilitation clinic and her arrival in Macerata, Mastropietro was given lifts in two local men's cars. Both men were accused of rape for having sex with her while she was not mentally capable of giving consent. The cases were closed by the court in June 2020, as such charges could only have been brought against the men by Mastropietro herself.^[17]

In June 2020, Mastropietro's uncle and lawyer Marco Verni took the knee in her memory during court proceedings during the George Floyd protests. He said that while he sympathised with Floyd's cause, he disagreed with some murder victims having more public and political support than others.^[18][19] A year earlier, he published a photograph of Pamela's decapitated head, justifying his decision by pointing to pro-migrant activists who share photographs of drowned migrants.^[20]

In October 2020, 22-year-old Romanian Claudiu Nitu, Mastropietro's ex-boyfriend, was sentenced to three years in prison for attempting to introduce her to prostitution in order to pay for drugs.^[21]

In January 2023, Mastropietro's mother, Alessandra Verni, wore a t-shirt with images of her daughter's decapitated and dismembered body as a protest to a hearing where Oseghale was contesting some additional charges related to the murder.^[22] Stefano Mastropietro, Pamela's father, died in May 2023 of a suspected heart attack.^[23]

See also

• List of solved missing person cases: post-2000
• Macerata shooting
• Murder of Ashley Ann Olsen
• Murder of Desirée Mariottini
• Murder of Meredith Kercher
• Murders of Louisa Vesterager Jespersen and Maren Ueland

References

1. "Oggi Pamela Mastropietro avrebbe compiuto 19 anni" [Today Pamela Mastropietro would have turned 19]. PicchioNews (in Italian). 23 August 2018.
2. Frignani, Rinaldo (5 May 2018). "I funerali di Pamela Mastropietro a Roma. La famiglia: "Contro barbarie vogliamo giustizia"" [Pamela Mastropietro's funeral in Rome. Family: "We want justice against barbarity"]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). Retrieved 25 November 2020.
3. "Pamela: confermato ergastolo a Oseghale" [Pamela: life sentence confirmed for Oseghale] (in Italian). ANSA. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
4. "Omicidio Pamela Mastropietro, Cassazione conferma ergastolo per Oseghale" [Pamela Mastropietro, Cassation Court confirms life sentence for Oseghale]. TgCom24. 23 February 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
5. Brera, Paolo G. (29 May 2019). "Innocent Oseghale condannato all'ergastolo per l'omicidio di Pamela Mastropietro" [Innocent Oseghale condemned to life in prison for murder of Pamela Mastropietro]. La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 24 November 2020.
6. Jason Horowitz (7 July 2018). "This Italian Town Once Welcomed Migrants. Now, It's a Symbol for Right-Wing Politics". The New York Times. from the original on 7 July 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
7. . www.thelocal.it. 7 February 2018. Archived from the original on 7 February 2018.
8. Il Fatto Quotidiano, 31 January 2018.
9. Corriere 21 February 2018.
10. Jones, Thomas (13 February 2018). "Fischia il vento". London Review of Books blog. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
11. Giusto, Eliana (18 February 2018). "Pamela Mastropietro, Alessandro Meluzzi: 'Perché il suo cuore potrebbe essere stato mangiato'" [Pamela Mastropietro, Alessandro Meluzzi: 'Why her heart may have been eaten']. Libero Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 18 February 2022.
12. Gaita, Luisa (3 March 2018). "Pamela Mastropietro, seconda autopsia: la 18enne è morta per due coltellate al torace e non per overdose" [Pamela Mastropietro, second autopsy: the 18-year-old died from two stabbings in the abdomen and not from overdose]. Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). Retrieved 25 November 2020.
13. "Pamela:revocato carcere per omicidio a 2" [Pamela: jail for murder revoked for 2 men] (in Italian). ANSA. 7 June 2018. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
14. "Omicidio Pamela, il superteste in aula accusa Oseghale: "Non era morta, l'ha uccisa lui"" [Pamela's murder, the key witness in court accuses Oseghale: "She wasn't dead, he killed her"] (in Italian). Sky TG 24. 7 March 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
15. "Pamela Mastropietro, il superteste accusa Oseghale dell'omicidio: "Mi disse che era stato lui a ucciderla e farla a pezzi"" [Pamela Mastropietro, the key witness accuses Oseghale of murder: "He told me it was he who killed her and cut her up"]. La Repubblica (in Italian). 6 March 2019. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
16. "Pamela Mastropietro, il superteste in aula: «Era viva quando Oseghale tentò di farla a pezzi»". 6 March 2019.
17. "Pamela Mastropietro, archiviate le indagini per violenza sessuale. L'avvocato: "Mancava la querela? Certo, è stata uccisa 24 ore dopo"" [Pamela Mastropietro, investigations of sexual violence closed. Lawyer: "There wasn't a complaint? Of course, she was killed 24 hours later]. Il Fatto Quotidiano (in Italian). 20 June 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
18. "Caso Mastropietro, Marco Verni in ginocchio come per Floyd" [Mastropietro case, Marco Verni on knee like for Floyd] (in Italian). Yahoo!. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
19. "Via Spalato, familiari inginocchiati" [Via Spalato, relatives on knees]. Il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 10 June 2020. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
20. Aghemo, Marilyn (29 August 2019). "Omicidio Mastropietro, il 'gesto estremo' dello zio tuona sul web: "Pronto a mostrarvi tutto"" [Mastropietro murder, the 'extreme gesture' of her uncle shocks the web] (in Italian). Letto Quotidiano. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
21. Di Lascio, Serafina (21 October 2020). "Condannato a 3 anni l'ex di Pamela Mastropietro: ergastolo per l'assassino" [Pamela Mastropietro's ex sentenced to 3 years: life sentence for the murderer] (in Italian). Metropolitan Magazine. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
22. Steinbuch, Yaron (27 January 2023). "Pamela Mastropietro's mom wears shirt with daughter's remains to killer's hearing". Retrieved 20 January 2023.
23. "Stefano Mastopietro [sic], trovato morto in casa il papà di Pamela" [Stefano Mastropietro, Pamela's dad, found dead at home]. Roma Today. 14 May 2023.