Italian teenager asks father for money to pay hitman to kill him

A young Italian woman asked her father for 5,000 euros (£4,500) to fund a holiday to the United States then used the money to have him murdered by two hitmen, police said.

By Nick Squires in Rome
Published: 4:44PM GMT 23 Mar 2010

Ilenia Moretti's plan unravelled when the second hitman got cold feet and confessed the plan to police.

Miss Moretti, 19, from the small town of Luzzara in northern Italy, told police she had endured years of verbal abuse from her domineering father, Rodolfo, and resolved to have him killed – apparently with the blessing of her mother.

In January, she allegedly hired the first assassin – a 22 year old man who she recruited from the nearby town of Mantova.

On the night of Jan 8, the alleged hitman, Alex Grantana, cycled 20 miles from Mantova to Luzzara in the dead of night and waited until Mr Moretti, a night porter, emerged from his house to go to work in a local mill.

Mr Grantana allegedly jumped out of the shadows at around 1.30am and stabbed him in the shoulder with a five-inch-long knife.

But Mr Moretti managed to fight off his attacker, disarming him and calling the police.

Detectives were puzzled when Mr Grantana said he attacked Mr Moretti because he did not like him – despite the fact that they had never met before.

Undaunted by the failure of the assassination attempt, Miss Moretti decided to hire a second hitman.

She recruited a young Moroccan immigrant who she met casually in a railway station.

But he had second thoughts and went to the police.

His confession led the Carabinieri to re-examine the circumstances of the first attack.

They arrested the teenager on suspicion of conspiring in two attempted murders.

"She said she wanted to bring to an end years of intimidation suffered by both daughter and mother," an investigator said.

Police also placed under investigation her mother, Roberta, who allegedly gave the green light for the killing.

From: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/7506101/Italian-teenager-asks-father-for-money-to-pay-hitman-to-kill-him.html