After a decade of legal wrangling, a court has finally confirmed the prison sentences handed to two men after it determined that a young woman who fell to her death from a Majorca hotel balcony did not commit suicide as they claimed but was fleeing their rape attempt.
Martina Rossi, 20, of the Italian metropolitan city of Genoa, fell to her death from the sixth-floor balcony of her hotel room in the city of Palma on the Spanish island of Majorca, where she was on holiday with friends, after returning from a nightclub in the early hours of 3rd August 2011.
Investigations suggested she had thrown herself to her death, and the case was filed as suicide and eventually closed in Spain.
However, thanks to the persistence of the victim’s parents, Bruno Rossi and Franca Murialdo, who suspected foul play, the case was reopened in Italy and, 10 years on, has finally been solved.
The Supreme Court of Cassation, Italy’s highest court of appeal, ruled on 7th October that the victim died while fleeing an attempted rape.
According to the court, the young woman had climbed over the balcony railing to try to flee the then-18-year-old men, who had blocked the door, and fell by accident. She was not wearing her shorts or flip flops at the time.
The court confirmed that Luca Vanneschi and Alessandro Albertoni of the Italian province of Arezzo would have to serve the remaining three years of their prison sentences.
The defendants had claimed the young woman jumped from the balcony in an altered state, having allegedly smoked a joint with the young men moments earlier.
Their version of events was supported by their lawyers, who claimed the victim had mental health issues.
However, the defendants’ claims were not believed, and the two were sentenced to six years in prison each in December 2018.
Despite this, the Court of Appeal of Florence acquitted the two men in June last year, citing a lack of evidence.
In turn, the Supreme Court of Cassation overturned the acquittal in January following a request by the deputy public prosecutor Domenico Seccia.
After the sentence was announced, Martina’s father, Bruno, said: “Now I can tell Martina her dad is sad because she is no longer here, but also satisfied because our country has managed to deliver justice.”
