‘Killer’ who ‘beat Nigerian migrant to death’ in attack which shocked Italy claims there was ‘no racial motive’ and he has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder
- Filippo Ferlazzo, 32, inflicted deadly daylight beating on Alika Ogorchukwu, 39
- Ferlazzo reportedly told cops he was ‘not racially motivated’ and ‘apologised’
- Judge probing suspect’s mental health history including bipolar diagnosis
- Nigerian Embassy slams onlookers for ‘little or no attempt’ to stop Alika’s killing
The man filmed beating a Nigerian street vendor to death in broad daylight claimed he was ‘not racially motivated’ as a judge probed his previous diagnosis with bipolar disorder.
Filippo Ferlazzo, 32, is accused of murdering father-of-two Alika Ogorchukwu, 39, as eyewitnesses filmed the attack in Civitanova Marche, central Italy on Friday.
Defending lawyer Roberta Bizzarri today submitted a formal request for Ferlazzo’s psychiatric report.
He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and recently spent a stint at a local psychiatric hospital, News Italy 24 reported, citing a court in his hometown Salerno.
Horror footage shows a man climb onto Alika and beat him before crushing him to death. Alika, who was married with two children, was seen struggling in the shocking video
Investigating judge Claudio Bonifazi quoted Ferlazzo’s lawyer as claiming the accused murderer ‘collaborated, apologized and made it clear that there was no racial motivation’.
Alika’s autopsy results will be published tomorrow.
The Nigerian embassy in Rome stated: ‘The incident occurred on a busy street and infront of shocked onlookers, some of whom made videos of the attack, with little or no attempt to prevent it.’
Ferlazzo reportedly became infuriated when Mr Ogorchukwu told the man’s girlfriend she was beautiful, claimed Daniel Amanza, who runs the ACSIM association for immigrants in the Marche region’s Macerata province.
‘This compliment killed him,’ Mr Amanza told The Associated Press.
‘The tragic fact is that there were many people nearby. They filmed, saying “Stop”, but no one moved to separate them,’ Mr Amanza said.
The father-of-two’s brutal death was filmed by onlookers who made no attempt to physically intervene – sparking outrage online.
Police in Italy arrested Ferlazzo, 32, for the murder of Mr Ogorchukwu, and allegedly stealing the victim’s mobile phone, according to local agency ANSA.
Cops used street cameras to track Ferlazzo’s movements and arrested him on Saturday.
Local media reported that Ferlazzo is currently being held in the Montacuto prison in Ancona. It is claimed he will not be charged with racism.
‘The situation is quite clear, everything seems to have emerged from a dispute over frivolous reasons, not racism’, said Matteo Luconi, one of the investigators.
Demonstrators showed up at the site of the killing to remember Alika and condemn racism
People protest where Ogorchukwu was murdered in Civitanova Marche, Italy, on July 30
Shocking video footage of the attack has circulated widely on social media, eliciting outrage as Italy enters a parliamentary election campaign in which the right-wing coalition has already made immigration an issue.
Mr Ogorchukwu was selling goods when his attacker grabbed the vendor’s crutch and struck him down with a series of blows, according to police.
The footage shows Ferlazzo wrestling the victim onto his back on the pavement as he fought back and climbing on top of Mr Ogorchukwu in an attempt to pin him to the ground.
Mr Ogorchukwu’s wife, Charity Oriachi, said: ‘Now I just want justice for my husband’, during a protest at the murder scene on Saturday.
Enrico Letta, the leader of the left-wing Democratic Party, wrote on Twitter: ‘The murder of Alika Ogorchukwu leaves us dismayed. The unprecedented ferocity. Widespread indifference. There can be no justification.’
Right-wing leader Matteo Salvini, who is making security a plank of his campaign, also expressed outrage over the death, saying ‘security has no colour and needs to return to being a right.’
Protestors gathered yesterday, with one holding an image of Alika and the scene of his killing
‘The aggressor went after the victim, first hitting him with a crutch. He made him fall to the ground, then he finished, causing the death, striking repeatedly with his bare hands,’ police investigator Matteo Luconi told a press conference.
He later told Italian news channel Sky TG24 that onlookers called police, who responded after the suspect had fled and attempted to administer aid to the victim. An autopsy will determine if the death was provoked by blows, suffocation or another cause.
Mr Luconi said the assailant lashed out after the vendor made ‘insistent’ requests for pocket change. Police were questioning witnesses and viewing videos of the attack. They said the suspect has made no statement.
Flowers and cards have been set down by the spot where Alika was killed in broad daylight
Mr Ogorchukwu, who was married with two children aged 8 and 10, resorted to selling goods on the street after he was struck by a car and lost his job as a labourer due to his injuries, said Mr Amanza, of the ACSIM association for immigrants.
Macerata was the site of a 2018 shooting spree targeting African immigrants that wounded six people. Luca Traini, 31, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the shootings, which Italy’s highest court confirmed qualified as a hate crime.
Civitanova Marche’s mayor, Fabrizio Ciarapica, met with members of the Nigerian community after hundreds demonstrated at the scene of the crime on Saturday.
‘My condemnation is not only for the (crime) but it is also for the indifference,’ Mr Ciarapica told Sky. ‘This is something that has shocked citizens.’
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