14 years have passed since the Avetrana crime , where – on 26 August 2010 – 15-year-old Sarah Scazzi was killed . Today uncle Michele Misseri left Lecce prison after serving an eight-year sentence for body suppression . His wife Cosima and daughter Sabrina remain in the cell who - according to the final sentence - killed the girl. But Misseri continues to profess himself guilty : " It was me, I killed her, I should stay here ." The 69-year-old, imprisoned since 2017, was released about a year early, benefiting from the reduction of his sentence for good behavior and from the "prison emptying" rule.
«I lied when I accused my daughter. I have been confessed a thousand and a thousand times", he reiterated to the press once released from the penitentiary and, now, a free man. «I wrote many letters to Sabrina and Cosima asking for forgiveness, but I never received a response - he adds -. I would like to go and visit them in prison, but I don't know if they will accept. I want to ask them for forgiveness by looking them in the eyes, explaining to them why I accused them. I accused my daughter unjustly, but I never accused my wife, nor did my brother Carmine and my nephew Cosimo. I didn't want to go out because it's not right, I'm the guilty one . This guilt makes me feel bad."
Misseri graduated in eighth grade in prison but «since I missed primary school I still can't write correctly, but I try to make myself understood. I also took a carpentry course and got top marks. I volunteered with Caritas. And then I cleaned the Church where I pray for Sarah to have justice." It is not yet certain whether the 69-year-old will return to his home in via Deledda. Among the concerns are the judgment of fellow villagers and loneliness : «I have to thank my daughter Valentina and my son-in-law, the only people who came to visit me and with whom I made a video call every Saturday. There are people from northern Italy who have been writing to me since 2010. They believe me and think that there are two innocent people in prison. I still hope that someone believes me, that there is someone who has at least a doubt about how things really happened. I am the guilty one and I must stay in prison."
