Murder of Pamela Mastropietro


Pamela Mastropietro was an 18-year-old Italian woman who was last seen on 29 January 2018. She was murdered soon after in Macerata, Italy. The suspects are three Nigerian immigrants, who as of 7 July 2018 were still in custody. The murder caused public outrage, anger, and anti-immigrant sentiment in Macerata.

Background

Mastropietro was born and lived in Rome. She was 18 years old, and had moved away from the recovery community for drug addiction where she was a guest in Marche Region, Corridonia, on 29 January. Her mother stated that Mastropietro began abusing drugs after dating a Romanian man, and was living in a drug treatment centre at the time of her death. When she left the community, she did not take her mobile phone and identification documents. She is believed to have sought drugs in Diaz Gardens, a known gathering place for dealers, addicts, and criminals.

Murder and investigation

Mastropietro's body was found severely mutilated, hidden in two suitcases; though she was believed to be a murder victim, the exact cause of her death had not been determined as of February 2018. Soon after, Italian police said they found her bloodied clothing at the home of Innocent Oseghale, a Nigerian who moved to Italy in 2014 but who had dropped out of a refugee assistance program and begun selling drugs. Oseghale, described as "a 29-year-old Nigerian with an expired residency permit and a criminal record of drug dealing," was arrested soon after the body and clothing were found. Along with Oseghale, police arrested Desmond Lucky and Lucky Awelima.
On 7 June 2018, the magistrate of Macerata, Giovanni Maria Manzoni, dropped orders of detention on charges of murder, vilification, and destruction and concealment of corpse, against Awelima and Lucky. Awelima and Lucky remained in jail for heroin dealing.
Matteo Salvini, the newly-elected deputy prime minister and interior minister, has often mentioned the Mastropietro murder as part of his hard-on-crime policies and skepticism towards immigration.
Alessandro Meluzzi, a psychiatrist and criminologist, has alleged that the murder was associated with Nigerian organized crime gangs.