ITALY: As Italy continued mourning a 17-month-old toddler killed during a botched kidnap attempt, there was an outpouring of sympathy yesterday for a second victim of the tragedy - the six-year-old son of two of the suspected kidnappers.
The parents of Giuseppe Alessi are expected to be charged in connection with the murder of Tommaso Onofri, who was snatched from his high-chair in his parents' home a month ago. He was found buried in a shallow grave on Saturday, having been strangled and hit with a spade. While Mario Alessi and Antonella Conserva are in jail and being questioned by prosecutors, their son is being looked after by his grandmother.
Afraid of reprisals, she has refused to let the boy, who suffers from a heart condition, leave her apartment in Parma.
Italians are expressing concern for the child as another innocent victim of a crime that has shocked the country, and have sent the boy stuffed toys and messages of support. Even the father of the murdered child has expressed his distress about the boy's future.
Paolo Onofri, eyes red from weeping, said he hoped Giuseppe would be looked after and be able to put the horror of the killing behind him. Mr Onofri knew Mr Alessi, his wife and another suspect, Salvatore Raimondi, because the two men had carried out building work on the family's house. The couple had been questioned by police and appeared on television, expressing their innocence of any involvement in the toddler's disappearance.
Tommaso, who suffered from epilepsy, was killed half an hour after he was snatched.
A fourth person, another builder, has also been arrested.
- (Guardian service)
