Robert Howard Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Portion of story below Complete Story at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070606/ap_on_...YN88ppENKRmM3wV Italian jury acquits 5 in Calvi murder By FRANCES D'EMILIO, Associated Press Writer2 hours, 19 minutes ago A jury Wednesday acquitted all five defendants charged with murder in the 1982 death of Italian financier Roberto Calvi, who was called "God's banker" for his close ties to the Vatican. Calvi's body was found hanging from London's Blackfriars Bridge, with rocks and cash stuffed into his suit. The death was first ruled a suicide by London police, but Calvi's family pressed for further investigation and eventually Italian prosecutors brought murder charges. None of the defendants was in the high-security courtroom on the outskirts of Rome when the judge read the verdict, reached after 1 1/2 days of deliberation. "Twenty-five years is a long time to wait for justice," said Renato Borzone, a lawyer for one defendant, businessman Flavio Carboni. Prosecutors had asked for life sentences for four defendants, but said a fifth should be acquitted for insufficient evidence. They alleged that one of the five, Giuseppe "Pippo" Calo, ordered Calvi killed. "The evidence was rather weak," said one of Calo's lawyers, Massimo Amoroso. Prosecutors believe Calvi was laundering money for the Mafia. They alleged Calo ordered the murder because mob bosses thought the banker had appropriated some of the money and were afraid he would talk in the wake of a scandal that overwhelmed his bank. Calo, nicknamed the Mafia's "cashier" by the Italian media for his alleged laundering of mob money, was convicted years ago of Mafia charges unconnected to Calvi's death. He is serving his sentence and watched the verdict over a video link. The other defendants were businessman Ernesto Diotallevi, Calvi's driver and bodyguard Silvano Vittor, and Carboni's Austrian ex-girlfriend Manuela Kleinszig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ecker Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Was the murder of Calvi before or after the murder of the Pope, and were the two murders related? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Howard Posted June 7, 2007 Author Share Posted June 7, 2007 Was the murder of Calvi before or after the murder of the Pope, and were the two murders related? Pope John Paul I died on September 28, 1978, Calvi disappeared on June 10, 1982, his body was found eight day's later hanging from Blackfriars Bridge over the Thames River. The book St. Peter's Banker by Luigi DiFonzo is probably one of, if not the best source for information regarding the Banco Ambrosiano scandal, as well as Michele Sindona. Regarding the "murder" of Pope John Paul I. I tend to agree that it is hard to believe that Pope John Paul I died of natural causes, however it would take pages to give the topic the attention it deserves. Suffice to say, in my opinion, P-2 had pieces of it's web that went into places the average person would be shocked to realize. I would hesitate to say the two deaths were inter-related, but would speculate the web traced back to the same nefarious indivduals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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