2008 Woodie Awards
Life imitating art, Italian mystery writer arrested for murders
Amanda Pressley
Issue date: 3/30/07 Section: World
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A writer of over 24 mystery novels, Battisti is accused of aiding in and committing four murders.
Battisti was found at in a hotel near Copacabana Beach in Brazil.
Investigators from the French and Italian sectors of Interpol began following a young female supporter of Battisti months ago. She was en route to give money to the accused and led Brazilian police to him.
"Brazilian police have been following him for several months," said federal police spokesman, Bruno Ramos, to The Associated Press.
Immediately after the arrest, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi declared the event a "brilliant operation" and began extradition proceedings.
This most recent arrest is just another chapter in the thrilling, event-filled life of Battisti.
In 1976, Battisti founded the organization Armed Proletarians for Communism in south Milan in response to the tense political climate.
At the time, Italy was politically torn between extremist socialist and communist groups and bombings ensued by the various parties.
During Italy's "anni di pombo," a decade of politically driven terrorism, Battisti's organization was responsible for armed acts including kidnappings, murders and robberies. They targeted members of right-wing political organizations and those who supported the police.
Battisti is accused of murdering a butcher and supporter of the Italian Social Movement, Lino Sabbadin, and a prison guard in the late 1970s.
He is also implicated in the murders of a policeman and a jeweler, Luigi Torregiani.
After being imprisoned for two years, Battisti escaped from a Frosinone prison in 1981 and fled to France in the early 1990s.
In reaction to the influx of leftist activists fleeing Italy, France created safeguards for them. Socialist French president, Francois Mitterrand, sponsored a program to allow Italian militants asylum if they abandoned their violent ways.
Battisti lived in France for over a decade, during which his trial continued in Italy. In 1990, he was convicted in absentia, a ruling confirmed by high court in 1993, of the murders of Sabbadin and the guard.
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