If Andrea Camilleri, creator of the Sicilian-based detective, Inspector Montalbano, had made it up, no one would have blinked. The thing is, though, this story of filicide Sicilian style is all too true.
This week 63-year-old Stefano Di Francesco was arrested and charged with the murder of his 32-year-old son, Piero, with much of the case against him being based on a "confession" by Di Francesco senior over his son's grave. It was a confession picked up by an opportunely placed police bug. Sometimes, good old fashioned detective work still works or so it would seem.
The point about this case is that when the carabinieri were called out to the scene of the death of Piero Di Francesco, on the grounds of the family business, Tecnoambiente, outside Caltanissetta, Sicily, they immediately had their doubts. At first glance, it appeared that Piero had burned himself to death in a battered old Mercedes motor car parked on the family premises.
When the police arrived, Stefano Di Francesco had partially covered the burning car with earth, in an attempt to quench the fire, he said. It was Di Francesco senior who had called the police and he was one of the first to resign himself to the explanation that his son had most probably committed suicide.
An autopsy on the body of Piero Di Francesco, however, radically changed the nature of the investigation. The autopsy revealed that Di Francesco junior had not only been hit hard over the head but also that his lungs were full of smoke. Police came to conclusion that he had been physically assaulted, perhaps knocked out and then dumped in the back seat of the car where he was burned alive.
Investigators already had their suspicions, based on the fact that no family member nor friend could come up with a plausible reason as to why Piero would have killed himself. On top of that, they had learned that father and son had often argued about the running of the family business. Then, there were traces of blood near the burnt out car as well as an old jerry can full of petrol. All of that, though, seemed more like circumstancial speculation rather than hard evidence.
With their investigation apparently stuck and with Di Francesco senior availing of his right not to answer police questions, someone had a flash of inspiration. What does any self-respecting Italian family do about their departed loved ones? They visit the grave, at least once per week, if not more often.
Police had noticed that Di Francesco senior often visited the grave in the company of his widowed daughter-in-law, Giusy, and his two, now fatherless grandchildren. So, they bugged Piero’s grave. It was only when Stefano Di Francesco went to the grave alone, however, that he gave the game away, saying to his son:
“Cricchietto, what did you make me do to you?...We were so good together, nothing could have stopped us, just look what you made me do..”
The use of the petname from childhood, “Cricchietto”, rather than the name Piero and the overall tone of Di Francesco’s unwitting confession were the break that the police needed. Thanks to his “confession”, Stefano Di Francesco was this week arrested for the murder of his son.