Villarbasse massacre

The Villarbasse massacre took place on November 20, 1945, in Villarbasse—about 20 km from Turin—where four men from Sicily killed ten people: the men were sentenced to death, for the last application of capital punishment for common crimes in Italy.

Background

In November 1945, just after the end of World War II, Pietro Lala quit his job in a farm—known as "cascina Simonetto"—pretending an inheritance he was given by his family in Sicily. During the night between November 20 and 21, helped by his accomplices, entered into the farm to carry out a robbery: the group clubbed ten people and threw them, still alive, down a well. After committing the robbery, they also stole clothes, food and Liras each.
The victims' bodies were found days later, leading to investigations in which D'Ignoti, Puleo and La Barbera were caught; Lala came back to Sicily where—despite appearing under the alias of Francesco Saporito—he was killed on April 11, 1946, by the Mafia. On July 5, 1946, the Corte d'Assise sentenced the remaining three defendants to death.

Victims

Massimo Gianoli
Teresa Delfino
Antonio Ferrero
Anna Varetto
Renato Morra
Fiorina Maffiotto
Rosa Martinoli
Marcello Gastaldi
Domenico Rosso

Execution and aftermath

The last execution in Italy for common crimes took place on March 4, 1947, at 7:45 AM when D'Ignoti, Puleo and La Barbera were shot to death in a rifle range by a 36-man firing squad. Enrico De Nicola refused to commute their sentences to life in prison.
Italian Parliament eventually abolished capital punishment in early 1948.