Diabolik murder: Seven arrests in Rome, Senese clan indicated as mastermind of killing in Parco degli Acquedotti
Seven people arrested for the murder of Fabrizio Piscitelli, alias Diabolik, killed in Rome in 2019. The Senese clan indicated as the mastermind.
Diabolik murder: seven arrests for the 2019 killing at Parco degli Acquedotti
As reported by ilmattino.it, in the early hours of the morning, the carabinieri and police carried out a warrant for pre-trial detention in prison against seven people, considered to be seriously implicated in aggravated murder by mafia method, extortion with war weapons, attempted murder and association aimed at drug trafficking. The operation, conducted on the instruction of the Rome anti-mafia district directorate, marks a turning point in the investigation into the assassination of Fabrizio Piscitelli, known as Diabolik, former leader of the Irriducibili ultra fans of Lazio, killed by a gunshot at Parco degli Acquedotti in Rome on 7 August 2019.
The role of the Senese clan
Michele Senese, historic head of the clan bearing his name, is indicated by prosecutors as the principal mastermind. According to the prosecution, he would have provided the decisive prior consent for the elimination of Piscitelli, considered necessary to reassert the clan's control over an affiliate who had failed to pay the due share of proceeds from illicit activities carried out under the Senese umbrella.
"The murder of Fabrizio Piscitelli demonstrates the existence of the Senese criminal organisation because the elimination of Piscitelli depended, among other things, on his failure to deliver to the Senese family a share of his drug trafficking proceeds," reads the warrant signed by judge Livio Sabatini. The judge adds that "the invocation of the Senese name offers a guarantee of protection for all those who carry out illicit activities under such an umbrella," but that "such protection nevertheless has a cost and no one can escape from it".
A conversation intercepted in prison on 10 February 2025 encapsulates the clan's logic in the words of Vincenzo Senese: "Either you pay or die".
The roles of the other suspects
Leandro Bennato is indicated as the mastermind and organiser of the ambush, at the head of a criminal group operating across Rome. According to the investigation, he would have decided on the elimination of Piscitelli considering him an awkward competitor in the cocaine market, particularly in the Tuscolana area. Bennato would have carried out preliminary reconnaissance in the park and, on the day of the crime, would have escorted the hitman Raul Esteban Calderon on board a stolen scooter.
Alessandro Capriotti, described as a well-known cocaine broker, would have played the role of bait. According to the charge sheet, he would have arranged a fake meeting with Piscitelli at a bench on via Lemonia for 7 p.m. on 7 August 2019, drawing the victim into the firing range of the hitman, already disguised as a jogger and lying in wait in the area. Previously, Capriotti had been threatened by Piscitelli and Arindi Boci with a war weapon to collect a debt of 400,000 euros, corresponding to a consignment of 24 kilograms of cocaine that Diabolik had sold to his former associate without settling the debt. Among the arrested also figure Giuseppe Molisso and Alessandro Capriotti, considered active participants in the murder together with Bennato.
A near-miss mafia war
Following Piscitelli's killing, a chain of reprisals was triggered between the Albanian group and the Molisso-Bennato faction, backed by the Senese. The escalation was halted, according to judge Sabatini, only thanks to the numerous arrests that followed over time.
"The overall picture that emerges is alarming because it presents an extremely dangerous criminal context in which the two criminal organisations are ready to do anything to assume supremacy in the drugs market," reads the warrant. The document specifies that in Rome's criminal landscape the Senese dominate "in a position of unchallenged control, guaranteeing equilibrium and protection to its affiliated or participating subjects, but demanding to receive a percentage of the profits obtained by all those who carry out illicit activities under their umbrella".
The victim had not foreseen the risk
The judge also emphasises the element of unpredictability of the ambush for the victim himself. "It is a cunning criminal environment because certain acts of violence or episodes of bloodshed have been swift and unexpected," writes Sabatini, citing words attributed to Piscitelli himself and reported by witness Raffaele Purpo: "But I warned him three times... it's just that he trusted me: well no, he made a fool of me". According to the investigation, Piscitelli had not assessed the clan's determination to definitively close the dispute.
Source: Google News IT — Crime (it)