Triple Murder in Monreale

"An unprecedented tragedy" - the Mayor.

A detail of the apse of Monreale Cathedral, which Palermo behind it. Taken by the author.

Some rather sad news from Monreale, the beautiful town above Palermo that boasts one of the finest cathedrals in the world, the Arab-Norman-Byzantine masterpiece, with attached cloister. Last night, Saturday, three young men, Salvatore Turdo, Andrea Miceli and Massimo Pirozzo, all in their twenties, and none with a criminal record, were murdered in the city centre. They had been out with a group of friends at a bar, where they encountered another group of youngsters from Palermo. Something sparked off a quarrel, a look or a word, nothing important, and their were fisticuffs and broken furniture. The gang from Palermo, who are supposed to be from lo Zen, the northern area of the city notorious for crime, rode off on their scooters, and went around the block, only to return and open fire from semi-automatic weapons. There were about twenty shots fired, which killed the three young men, and which injured a further two, one of whom was sixteen. There were three shooters in all.

The Cathedral apse, again, by the author.

Two of the murdered men were first cousins - their mothers being sisters - and they are likely to be only sons and quite probably only children. That just underlines the tragedy of young lives lost. Luckily the two injured are not in danger of death. However, three murdered is three too many. No wonder the authorities in the town are in despair. Needless to say this can only have a negative impact on a place that lives for tourism, and which is, I know from experience, so very well worth visiting.

The Carabinieri and Police will find the criminals, I am sure, as this was a spontaneous crime, not a premeditated one, and the assailants will have left plenty of clues behind them, there were many witnesses, and there is CCTV evidence as well. The gang from the Zen, as yet unidentified, were not professionals in any sense. But they carried guns, three guns, semi-automatics as well, which, as they say, makes you think.

The Cathedral Square, Monreale.

What sort of a young man goes out on a Saturday night carrying a gun? Presumably the gun is a status symbol, the carrying of which proves that the young man is a real man, someone to be taken seriously. This in turn makes one ask why a person has to prove himself in this way. What inadequacies is he trying to cover up?

Secondly, where do these guns come from? Attentive readers will remember me writing about a man I dubbed the gunsmith of Librino, whose speciality was adapting starting postols and who ran a private armoury. He is now out of business, but there will be lots others like him. But semi-automatic pistols seem to be a cut above what the Librino man dealt in, and thus of higher status, and costing more. Perhaps they are stolen from the police; perhaps they are imported from Eastern Europe; whichever way, there must be a thriving market for guns in Palermo and Catania. They are not advertised, you just need to ask around. But they cannot be hard to procure if these criminals had three of them.

The other thing is this: a triple murder is committed for the most trivial reasons. Again. trivial murders are something I have written about before now, here and here and here. Successful crime bosses, I imagine, only carry out murders for serious reasons and as a last resort, but these young man seem to have no self-control and to be provoked to the use of deadly force very easily. Is this something to do with the southern temperament?

As the newspaper account makes clear, there has been huge anger at these killings, which could lead to more violence. Some countries are wracked by blood feuds, and historically Sicily was one of them. Let us hope that that horrible custom, still endemic in rural Albania, does not revive in Sicily.

These events have provoked two statements, one from the mayor and one from the Archbishop, both excellent in their ways.

“Mayor Alberto Arcidiacono, immediately informed of the incident, went to the hospital to express his closeness to the families of the victims and the injured. Visibly shaken, he declared: «We are facing an unprecedented tragedy. Shattered lives of young people who should have lived their future. This is the moment to gather in prayer and to give comfort to the families. The city mourns these young people”.

The Archbishop said:

“This morning, having landed in Palermo on the first flight from Rome returning from the celebration of Pope Francis' funeral, I was greeted with painful, disconcerting and unacceptable news: an absurd brawl that ended in tragedy that led to the death of three young people from our city, two of whom were members of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Crucifix. Violence has struck again and this time our young people in the heart of Monreale! In the face of such an event, the most eloquent word is silence, the most appropriate gestures, prayer and tears. I express my personal condolences and my closeness to the family in their infinite pain, as well as to the friends and the entire city of Monreale today prey to despair. This fact strikes me and generates in me a sense of responsibility, because these deaths demand and deserve a personal response from each one of us. Violence is now a characteristic feature of our social coexistence: the use of words, bullying, abuse of children and women, arrogance and many other manifestations, infect our way of communicating, of coexisting and of inhabiting the common home. All this can only lead to violence and death. Enough! We need to stop, question ourselves and find a new way of living. This tragedy that occurred during period of the celebrations of the Most Holy Crucifix challenges us to become promoters of a new humanity that has the Crucifix as the inspiring model and the hope. I pray for the souls of Salvatore Turdo, Massimo Pirozzo and Andrea Miceli, that the merciful Father may welcome them into his arms. I pray for their families and their friends, that our pain may inspire in the entire Monreale community the profound desire for a new world”.

In early May Monreale is scheduled to celebrate the feast of the Most Holy Crucifix, but this may, understandable, be cancelled. Both mayor and Archbishop, I note, speak in a way that puts British politicians to shame.