Pellicanò gets life for Milan blast (4)

ANSA) - Milan, June 19 - Ad man Giuseppe Pellicanò got life Monday for causing a Milan kitchen gas blast last June that killed his former partner Micaela Masella and a neighbouring couple from Marche, Chiara Magnamassa and Riccardo Maglianesi, and also seriously burned his two daughters. A prosecutor, in asking for the life sentence, had said that Pellicanò not only caused the deaths but also "continued to lie, saying lots of things to try to remain unpunished". In January a psychological assessment of Pellicano', presented by the defence, found that the man was "partially insane" at the time of the crime.
    But the judge rejected the the assessment, which could have led to a reduction in his sentence due to diminished responsibility.
    Pellicano' had previously confessed in front of the preliminary investigative judge after his arrest on July 1 that he had unscrewed the gas tube, causing the explosion in the building.
    However, during questioning he had said that he remembered doing so in "photograms", in part due to the pharmaceuticals he took regularly to treat insomnia and anxiety.
    He was reportedly suffering from depression after separating from his former partner, Masella, who had started seeing someone else.
    Pellicano' nevertheless continued to live in the same home with her and their two daughters.
    The lawyers of Masella's family and those of the families of the young Marche-born couple killed in the blast, Magnamassa and Maglianesi, appointed consultants who challenged the psychiatric assessment.
    If Pellicanò had been entirely insane at the time of the crime, he would have been acquitted.
    photo: Pellicanò with his then wife