A Milan public prosecutor is to recommend that the former wife of the murdered fashion designer, Maurizio Gucci, be sent for trial with four others on charges of ordering his shooting by a hit-man, judicial sources said yesterday. Mr Carlo Nocerino has completed an investigation into the killing of Gucci, who was shot dead in central Milan in March 1995, and will make his recommendation in the next few days, a source close to the investigation said.
Gucci's former wife, Ms Patrizia Reggiani Martinelli (51), her clairvoyant friend, Ms Pina Auriemma (51), and three men were arrested in January in connection with the killing and have remained in jail.
The three men are Mr Ivano Savioni (40), a hotel concierge, Mr Orazio Cicala (59), and Mr Benedetto Ceraulo (35), both from Sicily.
Mr Savioni is believed to have acted as mediator between Ms Auriemma - a confidante of Ms Reggiani - and Mr Cicala, who is accused of planning the murder, and Mr Ceraulo, charged with carrying it out.
Mr Maurizio Grigo, a magistrate in charge of weighing up the evidence in the case, will take the final decision on whether to order a trial on charges of premeditated murder, the source said.
Investigators said at the time of Ms Reggiani's arrest, according to testimony from an anonymous witness, that she had paid 600 million lire (£240,000) for the contract killing, to be shared among the four others.
The Gucci empire, with its distinctive red and green motif and intertwined gilt GG logo, grew from a saddlery shop in Florence in 1906 into purveyors of luxury leather, shoes, and ties to the rich and famous.
Police exposed the alleged murder plot by using an undercover agent posing as a killer from Colombia.
Mr Nocerino said in January that Ms Reggiani had been consumed by hatred for her former husband because, among other things, he had neglected her when she was dangerously ill.
Investigators said the suspected killers tried to squeeze more money out of Ms Reggiani. Mr Savioni and Ms Auriemma discussed enlisting the police agent masquerading as a Colombian to intimidate Ms Reggiani and are alleged to have considered ordering her murder because they feared she might confess to police.