Everything is simpler afterwards.
After that, gunshots, death, suicide.
After that, the photo posted on facebook three years before he met the woman he was obsessed with is even more impressive: an inscription, “I love you”, on the naked back of a young man who points a gun to the temple of a blonde girl. Hence the cult phrase of Scarface: “I don't forget anything, I just wait for the right moment”.
Love - what love is not - and gun - what a danger it is. It should be enough to keep away: as is clear, later.
First, instead.
Vanessa Zappalà was 26 years old, she lived with her parents in Trecastastagni, at the foot of Etna: she had graduated from the technical-economic institute and worked in a bakery. Her relationship with Antonio Sciuto, 12 years older, separated with two children aged 10 and 5, an employee of a car dealer, began in May 2020 and on February 27 of this year she said enough. He had endured a terrible outburst with kicks and punches in the house of her father who had welcomed him even if he did not like the man. And it had gone on for less than two months before she left him. "Single", he wrote on his Instagram profile.
And he didn't take it well. "If I see you with another I'll shoot you."
It was just too much. Vanessa's father had organized a meeting at Antonio's house in the presence of his parents who had warned him: "Tony, the story with Vanessa is over, you have to leave her alone". In response he had insulted Vanessa, had even spit on her.
And the siege had begun: stalking, stalking.
Vanessa's father had faced him again, this time alone. “They told me he has another one,” he replied. He didn't have any Vanessa, but that couldn't be the point. Antonino Sciuto shouted: "Your daughter is handicapped". And his father had chased him away, after having demanded the return of the house keys.
But he hadn't given up: he had a duplicate keys and in the evening he sneaked into the ex's house, in a sort of closet from where, through the fireplace, he listened to Vanessa's conversations with her parents.
It couldn't wait any longer. The father had accompanied Vanessa to the carabinieri barracks and the young woman had filed a complaint for stalking: she asked for an urgent measure because she feared for her safety and that of her family since Sciuto was a very violent and dangerous person. He used to say to her, in Sicilian dialect: “Go whore with your cousins, so I'm always with you”. And then: “Have fun with Tik Tok which I then enjoy”.
The military immediately got to work and discovered that Sciuto had placed two different gps under the cars of the girl and her ex-father-in-law. A few hours and the arrest was triggered. It was June 7th. But, after just one night in the barracks, he had obtained house arrest. What's more: on June 13 he was free again, with a ban on approaching less than two hundred meters. And to say that the prosecutor had underlined the "concrete and current danger that the suspect may persist in his illicit behavior".
The judge, however, had a different opinion: "You can rely on the spontaneous compliance with the requirements by the suspect, not burdened by recent and specific criminal records".
The marshal of the barracks, for his part, did not trust him and with Vanessa he had recommended so much: “Call me at any time, night and day, if there is any need”. Her friends begged her to be careful but she replied: "Don't worry, he doesn't hurt me, he's just jealous".
In fact, he hadn't seen him again, he seemed to have calmed down.
Vanessa, closed at home until mid-August for fear of meeting him, since the truce had lasted for over two months, she thought she could start living again, she who had tattooed the word hope on her left arm, surrounded by cheerful butterflies that they rose up to the shoulder. He had also documented those moments of rediscovered normality on instagram: an aperitif in a seaside bar, together with friends and friends, in front of the stacks where Verga set I Malavoglia.
He did not know that Antonino Sciuto was studying revenge.
The man had rented a blue Fiat 500, had obtained a gun and more than 30 bullets. Sunday night, around three, he had followed Vanessa along the waterfront: the girl was in the company of her cousin, a friend and two boys. Sciuto had approached him and Vanessa had told him to go away, he had even threatened to call the police. He continued to stare at her and then the group of boys ran away but Sciuto got out of the car, managed to grab the ex by the hair and fired: six shots, one had also struck Vanessa's friend who, instead, she had remained lifeless on the ground.
The killer had fled to the countryside near Vanessa's town. He had abandoned the car about a hundred meters from the cistern of an uncle's cottage. He had grabbed a stone and with it had carved the names of the parents and children on the wall. So he wrote: “I love you, don't feel bad”. Not a word for Vanessa.
The carabinieri had found him on Monday evening, first they had seen the car and not far away the body: Sciuto had hanged himself.
It ended like this, and now everyone is there wondering how it was possible, why no one stopped the killer.
Vanessa had trusted the state but was not protected by the state.
It is not the first time: the news records dozens of femicides that could have been avoided. Like? The laws are there, we must not increase the penalties but apply the rules. It is clear that the prohibition of approaching is useless if then no one checks that the stalker is at a safe distance from the victim. The electronic bracelet would be useful but it seems that there are not enough and then there is the problem that the suspect must accept it. Of course, it would be enough to put him in front of a dry choice: the bracelet or the prison, and the problem of consent would be solved. And if he violates the ban, he should go straight to jail.
This would require a very quick criminal trial because the presumption of innocence applies to everyone, and you cannot keep a suspect in custody indefinitely.
Age-old issues.
We should also work on other fronts, for example forcing the stalker to attend specialized centers for abusive men. It has been talked about for some time but obviously not enough.
Meanwhile, the massacre of women continues. And all of us here, every time, always asking the same question: how was this possible?