Piritore arrest centres on missing glove from car used by killers.A former police officer has been placed under house arrest accused of obstructing the investigation into the 1980 assassination of Piersanti Mattarella, the governor of Sicily and brother of Italy's current president, the Palermo prosecutor's office said on Friday.Filippo Piritore, 75, led the investigation into the murder of Mattarella, a Christian Democrat known for his commitment to reforming Sicilian politics and his stance against mafia corruption. Piritore has been under investigation since 2017, with prosecutors seeking to prove that the Mattarella investigation was "contaminated and compromised" by those who sought to obstruct investigators from identifying the killers. The case centres on the accusation that Piritore "removed a very important piece of evidence", namely a leather glove found in the Fiat 127 used by the politician's killers. Prosecutors allege that Piritore lied about the glove - one of the few pieces of evidence available and considered crucial to the case - which disappeared without a trace. Letizia Battaglia's iconic photograph of Sergio Mattarella cradling his brother after he was shot.   The investigation into Mattarella's murder has been ongoing for decades, with two suspects charged and acquitted in 1995 due to a lack of evidence. Nobody has been convicted of the killing, which may have been carried out by Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia or by far-right groups, and recently the case was reopened following new leads. In his 2024 testimony, Piritore explained that he was the one who retrieved the glove from the car, and then described the glove's various movements over those days. Prosecutors say his account is implausible as the process would have deviated from standard procedure, and that his statements were "completely uncorroborated" by the officers he claimed had handled the glove. Mattarella, who was shot dead on 6 January 1980 while driving in front of his home, was cradled in his dying moments by his younger brother Sergio, immortalised in an iconic image by photographer Letizia Battaglia. The assassination of his brother prompted law professor Sergio Mattarella to enter politics, in a career that saw him elected Italy's head of state 35 years later.

A former police officer has been placed under house arrest accused of obstructing the investigation into the 1980 assassination of Piersanti Mattarella, the governor of Sicily and brother of Italy's current president, the Palermo prosecutor's office said on Friday. Filippo Piritore, 75, led the investigation into the murder of Mattarella, a Christian Democrat known for his commitment to reforming Sicilian politics and his stance against mafia corruption. Piritore has been under investigation since 2017, with prosecutors seeking to prove that the Mattarella investigation was "contaminated and compromised" by those who sought to obstruct investigators from identifying the killers. The case centres on the accusation that Piritore "removed a very important piece of evidence", namely a leather glove found in the Fiat 127 used by the politician's killers. Prosecutors allege that Piritore lied about the glove - one of the few pieces of evidence available and considered crucial to the case - which disappeared without a trace.
Letizia Battaglia's iconic photograph of Sergio Mattarella cradling his brother after he was shot.   The investigation into Mattarella's murder has been ongoing for decades, with two suspects charged and acquitted in 1995 due to a lack of evidence. Nobody has been convicted of the killing, which may have been carried out by Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia or by far-right groups, and recently the case was reopened following new leads. In his 2024 testimony, Piritore explained that he was the one who retrieved the glove from the car, and then described the glove's various movements over those days. Prosecutors say his account is implausible as the process would have deviated from standard procedure, and that his statements were "completely uncorroborated" by the officers he claimed had handled the glove. Mattarella, who was shot dead on 6 January 1980 while driving in front of his home, was cradled in his dying moments by his younger brother Sergio, immortalised in an iconic image by photographer Letizia Battaglia. The assassination of his brother prompted law professor Sergio Mattarella to enter politics, in a career that saw him elected 35 years later.