"It was me, I'm ashamed." Thus declared Giovanni Zippo, 40, a security guard, arrested on charges of voluntary manslaughter with eventual intent and collapse, who confessed to causing the explosion of a building on Via Nizza in Turin on June 30th. The explosion killed 33-year-old Jacopo Peretti, who was trapped under rubble while he was sleeping, and injured five other residents of the building.
After several postponements due to the injuries sustained on the night of June 29th and 30th, the preliminary hearing was held at the CTO hospital in the Piedmontese capital, where Zippo is still recovering from burns. Before the investigating judge, the man exercised his right to remain silent but spoke briefly only to his lawyer, Basilio Foti, admitting that he had committed the act. That night, he explained, he had intended to use flammable liquid to damage the apartment of his ex-girlfriend , who lived next door to Peretti's. She had gone on vacation to the island of Elba to join her current partner, who was busy with a job during the summer.
"He didn't mean to cause the explosion, it's sad," Basilio Foti explained at the end of the questioning. "For him, this was meant to spite someone who exploited him," he added, referring to the woman, "but he didn't mean to kill. He couldn't have imagined the explosion would occur; the situation got out of hand, and the charge of voluntary manslaughter is excessive ," Zippo's lawyer continued. The lawyer also explained that the security guard, who had been stationed on the hospital's twelfth floor for days, is ready to pay compensation: "He said he was willing, to the extent possible with his current and future resources, to compensate and alleviate the victims' pain."
Meanwhile, the investigation continues. While Zippo claimed to have used a flammable liquid, he has not yet disclosed the trigger, traces of which were found by firefighters working among the rubble of the explosion, which initially appeared to be an accident. From that spot, Giovanni Zippo was seen by witnesses running away with a bloody face. It will be up to the expert appointed by the Turin Prosecutor's Office, engineer Marco Sartini, to seek the remaining answers.
(Unioneonline)