Hitman from execution video arrested
Suspect accused of mafia killing caught on surveillance cameras
19 November, 18:44
(ANSA) - Naples, November 19 - A mafia hitman
caught on camera during a broad-daylight execution in central
Naples was arrested on Friday three weeks after police made the
video public.Costanzo Apice, 28, was identified in late October as the shooter in a video showing the murder of Mario Bacioterracino, a convicted bank robber, outside a neighborhood bar last May.
After the video was released last month, Apice fled his home in Naples to the town of Caserta 36 km to the north where he was tracked down by police.
Investigators did not release details regarding the operation that led to his arrest.
In the video, Apice is seen walking past his victim into the bar and then emerging with his gun drawn to fire three shots at point-blank range into his side and then a final shot to the head.
Afterwards, the killer puts his gun away and walks of camera to disappear amongst shoppers at a busy sidewalk market.
Naples prosecutor Giovandomenico Lepore said police released the video as a ''last ditch attempt'' to break down the wall of silence still surrounding the murder after six months of investigating. But he said Thursday's victory came at "a high price, because this video circled the globe showing a very ugly side of Naples''.
In in addition to the real-life violence in the video, Italians were shocked by the killer's nonchalance and the apparent indifference of bystanders.
After appearing first on the internet and then on television, Italian politicians including Interior Minister Roberto Maroni spoke out against releasing the video, saying it compounded Naples' image problems as home to the Camorra crime syndicate.
''This video gives an impression of Naples very different from what it's really like," said Maroni.
But Roberto Saviano, author of the bestselling Camorra expose', Gomorra, said the videos could help dispel ''Hollywood myths'' about mafia violence and show its true brutality.
