«My family helped me, my brothers worked for me. Especially my sister and brother-in-law. But I need compensation from the state. I also have debts. In the meantime, maybe the State will give me a thousand euros a month." These are the words pronounced by Beniamino Zuncheddu, former shepherd of Burcei, 59 years old, of which 32 were spent in prison after being sentenced to life imprisonment on the accusation of being the author of the Sinnai massacre, which on 8 January 1991 caused three dead and one seriously injured. Zuncheddu is today in Marsala (Trapani) to participate in the conference organized by the "Stefano Pellegrino" Criminal Chamber on the theme "The three great judicial errors. Enzo Tortora, Giuseppe Gulotta, Beniamino Zuncheddu (stories and testimonies of the victims of bad justice)".
It happened on the day in which the reasons for the sentence of the review process were filed, issued on January 26, which brought him back to freedom. They say, in summary, that the judges of the Court of Appeal of Rome acquitted him because the evidence that had led to his final conviction in the Court of Cassation did not stand up to new scrutiny, but also that doubts remain as to his real non-involvement in the facts.
The comment
«How did I not go crazy in these 32 years in prison? It's difficult to explain it", declares Zuccheddu, "I thought: one day or another I have to get out because I'm innocent. They stole my life. However, everyone in prison treated me well. Both the prisoners and the guards. They were convinced of my innocence."
Locked up two months before turning 27, Zuncheddu was released at 59 with the release order issued by the Court of Criminal Appeal of Rome on 25 November 2023. And during his detention, having never pleaded guilty to a crime which he did not had committed, was not able to take advantage of the rewards provided by law. He was imprisoned in the Badu 'e Carros prison in Nuoro, in the old penitentiary institute in Cagliari and in the new one in Uta. From cell to cell, year after year, only to be declared innocent.
The motivations
The reason for the decision of the Court of Appeal of the capital court, which freed him, is contained in the reasons just filed. The acquittal arrived, but not with full formula: due to insufficient evidence. Zuncheddu, we read in the sentence, "was convicted because the eyewitness ( Luigi Pinna, now under investigation for slander ) declared that he had recognized him as the aggressor, as well as for having provided a false alibi".
In justifying the acquittal, the Court writes that «the outcome of the investigation carried out today remains some doubts regarding his actual extraneousness to the massacre, probably committed by more than one person, one of whom, contrary to what was opined in the request for review, he was not an expert sniper, not succeeding in his murderous intent even after having fired two shots at close range in a place so narrow that "there was no need to aim".
Pinna reported having been threatened several times after the review proceedings began. «Pinna's retraction during the current review investigation cannot be said to be the result of spontaneous regret, but the fact still remains that he gave a testimony that was at least contradictory and confusing», is written in the reasons for the sentence. «The lack of this fundamental proof, while remaining perplexities regarding Beniamino Zuncheddu's actual involvement in the massacre, also due to the "help" received from the aforementioned third parties to induce Pinna to recant, does not allow us to reach a confirmation of the conviction sentence , the accused must therefore be acquitted, not because full proof of his innocence has been achieved, but rather because the circumstantial framework in itself is not sufficient to affirm his guilt and therefore the acquittal must be formulated pursuant to paragraph 2 of article 530 of the criminal procedure code".
(Unioneonline)