It was 20.10 on February 26, 2022 when an explosion of hatred shook the city of Porto Torres forever. In via Principessa Giovanna, a year ago, the massacre of the Saladdino family took place. Fulvio Baule, after pulling an ax from his car, with unheard-of violence lashed out at his father-in-law, Basilio Saladdino. The 74-year-old policeman on leave had taken to the streets in his pajamas to defend his daughter Ilaria from the aggression of her ex-husband. He died under the blows of the axe, struck on the head and back, while, having fallen to the ground after the scuffle between the two, he was trying to get up. With the same cruelty, Baule attacked his ex-wife Ilaria, hit on the forehead with an axe, and then against his mother-in-law, Liliana Caterina Mancusa, 65, who was chased into the courtyard of the building where he lived. Attacked from behind, she had fallen to the ground in front of their garage where she was trying to find shelter. Instead he reached her and with brutal ferocity hit her on the head, "at least five times", witnesses say. On the floor the signs of that homicidal fury.
A tragedy in front of the two little twins of just one year, children of Ilaria and Fulvio, unaware of what was happening. In a few minutes the drama was accomplished. Liliana Mancusa died in the intensive care unit of the Santissima Annunziata after 32 days of agony. Ilaria, the 39-year-old daughter, reduced to dying, forced to undergo long rehabilitation treatments, survived. On Saturday 18 February she returned home, after almost a year spent in various hospitals to recover her life. The normal one, in her family who gathered all her strength to be able to support her. A miracle, a celebration for the community which remained in suspense for months, in disbelief in the face of such a serious drama, but with the hope of being able to embrace it again. That day has arrived, emotion has taken over everyone. Even on the carabinieri present with a patrol to welcome Ilaria, as if they wanted to protect her again. He reunited with his children, celebrated their birthday. Just two years and a journey to be rebuilt without their grandparents, but with the love of Aunt Giusy and her husband Franco Arras. The emotion has also seized the neighbors, witnesses, in spite of themselves, of such an atrocious act. That life that resumes its path is also their life, shocked by those images of a brutal murder that will remain in the memories.
Fulvio Baule, the 40-year-old from Ploaghe, had brought his two children back to his wife that day, following the separation which had established that the twins should stay with their mother, with the possibility of seeing their father at set times. In front of the building in via Principessa Giovanna, where Ilaria had chosen to move after leaving Ploaghe, the homicidal fury was unleashed. Ilaria before being hit with the ax had been beaten with kicks and punches. The bricklayer, imprisoned in the Bancali prison, will have to undergo an immediate trial for having killed twice and also attempted to kill his wife. Crimes aggravated "by cruelty and for trivial reasons", committed in front of the two little ones, with an ax that he kept inside the car, as a weapon for which he was denounced. Now the paternal grandparents ask to see their grandchildren. The hearing is set for March 29 at the Juvenile Court of Sassari.
That of the criminal trial, however, was postponed to May 23 next at the Court of Assizes. Five counts of indictment against Baule, 29 witnesses who will appear in the courtroom in what represents one of the cruelest murder cases in the history of Porto Torres and beyond. This morning in the church of Christ Risen the anniversary of the death of Dino Saladdino and Liliana Mancusa was celebrated. Ilaria was also there to greet them this time.