Europe News
Defendants acquitted in "God's banker" murder trial
By DPA
Jun 6, 2007, 16:03 GMT

Rome - The cryptic death of Roberto Calvi, an Italian banker found hanging under London's Blackfriars Bridge 25 years ago, remained shrouded in mystery Wednesday after judges in Rome acquitted all five defendants accused of taking part in his alleged murder.

A court headed by judge Lucio D'Andria found four of the defendants not guilty of the charges because of contradictory or insufficient evidence. A fifth defendant, Austrian-born Manuela Kleinsdig, received a full acquittal.

Prosecutor Luca Tescaroli had demanded a life sentence for four of the defendants and the acquittal of the only woman, the girlfriend of one of the accused.

Calvi, the former chairman of what was once Italy's largest private bank, Banco Ambrosiano, was known as 'God's Banker' because of his close ties to the Vatican.

He was found hanging from scaffolding under Blackfriars bridge on June 18, 1982 with large sums of money in his wallet and heavy bricks stuffed in his clothes.

British police initially dismissed the case as suicide. But subsequent investigations suggested he might have been murdered and the case was officially re-opened in 2002 after new forensic tests appeared to back this hypothesis.

According to prosecutors, the Mafia plotted to murder Calvi after he pocketed money he was supposed to launder on behalf of Sicily's organized crime network.

It has also been alleged that the killing may have been ordered to stop Calvi from revealing sensitive information that could have jeopardized Italian politicians, P2 Masonic lodge members and the Vatican.

The first ever trial into the case opened in Rome in October 2005 and saw five defendants face charges of murder: Pippo Calo, a suspect mobster known as 'the Mafia's cashier'; Ernesto Diotallevi, a Roman gangster; Silvano Vittor, Calvi's driver and bodyguard during his stay in London; Flavio Carboni, a wheeler and dealer, and his girlfriend.

Experts said Wednesday's verdict appeared to confirm that Calvi had indeed been murdered but that the evidence brought against the defendants was insufficient to warrant a conviction.

'The court took the view that Calvi did not commit suicide but was murdered,' said Philip Willan, a Rome-based British journalist and author of a new book on the case called The Last Supper: The Mafia, the Masons and the Killing of Roberto Calvi.

'But today's verdict means it will be harder for prosecutors to forge ahead with their inquiry. The Calvi mystery remains,' Willan told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Prosecutors said they wanted to study the verdict before deciding whether to appeal.

A City of London police spokeswoman said the City of London police had worked closely with the Italian authorities to bring the case to a successful conclusion.

'It is disappointing for Roberto Calvi's family in particular that those responsible for his murder have still not faced justice,' she said.