Homicidal parish priest gets over 17 yrs

(ANSA) - Modena, January 14 - A Bologna appeals court on Wednesday increased a prison sentence against a priest who was found guilty of murder, from 10 years and eight months to 17 years and four months.
    Father Giorgio Panini, 61, had been originally sentenced to 20 years for the 2009 stabbing murder of his friend and host Sergio Manfredini, 67, and the attempted murder of the victim's wife, Paola Bergamini.
    An appeals court later reversed the attempted murder charge, reducing the sentence to just under 11 years. The prosecution appealed to the Cassation Court, which sent the case back to the appeals level.
    Panini was the parish priest of the town of Brodano di Vignola, near the city of Modena, and had been living in the couple's home for years.