Murder accused ‘tried suicide’

VINCENZO Pietropaolo, the former treasurer of the Bank of Athens accused of murdering his wife, has allegedly tried to kill himself following a foiled prison escape attempt.

Pietropaolo has been in police custody since November last year for allegedly shooting his estranged wife, Manuela, nine times at their Brackenhurst home.

He is also facing a charge of murder for killing his father, Pasqualino, after ballistics reports showed the firearm used to kill Manuela had been one of the firearms reported stolen from Pasqualino’s home.

According to the lawyer representing Pietropaolo’s family and friends, Casper Badenhorst, the 62-year-old’s suicide attempt was discovered after he failed to arrive at his court proceedings set down for the beginning of June.

When he was not brought to the Johannesburg High Court, the investigating officer drove to the prison to collect Pietropaolo, but found out he had been taken to a hospital in critical condition.

It is alleged he tried to commit suicide by overdosing on pills that had been smuggled into the prison, although it is unclear exactly how, according to Badenhorst.

Pietropaolo spent a week in a coma on life support, though he was discharged back to the prison’s hospital unit earlier this month.

However, Badenhorst said the suicide attempt took place shortly after the SAPS’s crime intelligence unit discovered the banker had allegedly paid a contact R100 000 to secure a fake passport and plane tickets out of the country.

While this payment was discovered, and the plot disrupted, it is unclear how Pietropaolo planned to escape from prison.

During earlier court proceedings in his criminal trial, the State has alleged that Pietropaolo had all but confessed to the killing of his wife on two separate occasions.

During the banker’s lengthy bail application, the investigating officer testified that on the night when officers arrived at Pietropaolo’s Randburg home, they confiscated his phone and saw a message to his girlfriend, reading: “I’m sorry, baby, I shot her. Now I’m going to jail.”