Davide Iannelli is a " good person ", a trustworthy man who " has always behaved well and to whom I also gave the keys to the house ". Painting the "good side" of the accused - on trial in the Court of Assizes in Sassari for the murder of his neighbour, Toni Cozzolino - is the heart surgeon Giovanni Forteleoni , called today as witnesses by the defense lawyers Cristina and Abele Cherchi. The victim was burned alive on the street with petrol, in Olbia, on 11 March 2022, and died in hospital after ten days of agony .
«I met him a long time ago, he was indicated to me as a gardener – Forteleoni clarified in the courtroom -. Then in the last six years, since I became a widower and had health problems, he became a factotum for me. He always assisted me in all daily activities and took care of the house and the dog when I was away. He has always been very correct , even with other people. At the supermarket he also gave alms to the people waiting at the entrance."
Positive words towards Iannelli were also expressed by another witness, Angelo Sirianni, the accused's former family doctor: "We went mushrooming together and he did some work in my condominium, cutting the grass with the brush cutter", he declared. According to the defense, these interventions and the frequent use of the gardening tool would justify the presence in the defendant's car of a bottle of petrol, the same one with which he set fire to the victim, excluding premeditation .
« He took care of his partner , Rosa Bechere. She needed assistance and he followed her with great patience. As far as I'm concerned, Iannelli has never had psychiatric problems." The Court, presided over by Judge Massimo Zaniboni, adjourned the hearing until April 16, when seven more defense witnesses will appear in the courtroom.
