A Ghanaian migrant who killed
three passers-by with a pickaxe in Milan in 2013 acted because
his illness, diagnosed as "schizophrenic psychosis", suggested
to him the means to express his resentment, appeals judges who
upheld his 20-year prison term wrote in their explanation of the
verdict released on Wednesday.
According to judges Anna Conforti and Fabio Tucci in Milan,
Mada 'Adam' Kabobo did not kill "because he had been defeated by
the diagnosed pathology" but rather because his illness prompted
him to act in this way to express his frustration and resentment
of his difficult living condition
Kabobo was first convicted on April 15, 2014 after a
fast-track trial in which he was deemed to be mentally
semi-infirm.
The appeals court confirmed the ruling on January 20 and
upheld a three-year mandatory treatment therapy at a mental
health care facility after the defendant has served his term.
Kabobo was judged fit to stand trial in October 2013, though
he was diagnosed with "schizophrenic psychosis", after he killed
pensioner Ermanno Masini, 64, unemployed 40-year-old Alessandro
Carole' and 21-year-old Daniele Carella in an early morning
rampage on May 11, 2013.
Kabobo's ability to control his actions was "greatly
diminished but not totally absent" and he was sufficiently "able
to understand" what he was doing to face murder charges,
psychiatrists said at the time.
Two other people were injured in Kabobo's hour-long string
of attacks before he was stopped by police.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
