Benno Neumairthe 31-year-old from Bolzano who killed his parents on 4 January 2021 (Peter Neumair 63 years old and Laura Persell 68 years old), both retired teachers, to then throw their bodies into the Adige, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
The court fully accepted the prosecution’s requests, sentencing Benno to life imprisonment for both the murders of his father and mother. Benno Neumair was sentenced to 3 years’ imprisonment for the crime of suppressing a corpse, i.e. for having thrown the bodies of his parents killed in the waters of the Adige. The final penalty is therefore life imprisonment with a year of daytime isolation and perpetual disqualification from public office. Benno will also have to pay a provisional to the civil parties: that is 200,000 euros to his sister Madè and 80,000 euros to Laura Perselli’s sister, Carla.
Benno’s defense lawyers, Angelo Polo and Flavio Moccia, instead asked to apply the extenuating circumstances and consider the defendant incapable of understanding and wanting. According to the reports of the consultants appointed by Neumair’s defense lawyers, the 31-year-old would suffer from “a serious personality disorder”, he would be “sick and socially dangerous”. Benno – for the defense – would therefore be unable to control himself: the quarrel with his father would have acted as a detonator leading to the murder. However, there is no certain proof of the alleged dispute, as it is a circumstance reported only by the defendant. In fact, Benno confessed to having killed his parents by strangling them with a rope – first the father and then the mother, who later returned to the family home in Bolzano – after the discovery of the body of his mother Laura, which occurred later than that of his father Peter. According to the confession, it was precisely the discussion with the father that degenerated into a quarrel which then resulted in the first of the two murders.
After the crimes, Benno carried out numerous attempts at misdirection. For example, he asked the young woman from Ora whom she was seeing at the time to tell, if questioned by the investigators, that on the evening of the crime they were together and had smoked marijuana. Benno also went to wash the car, but was stopped earlier by the carabinieri. In prison, it emerged during the trial, Benno also attacked another prisoner receiving a disciplinary sanction and during the hearing in which he was heard in the Court of Assizes he was reproached several times by the judge for his attitude, considered annoying.
The prosecution – who believes the crimes were committed “with full conscience and will” – argued that the confession would be “late and utilitarian”, precisely because it came after the discovery of the mother’s body. “Benno suffers from a personality disorder. He doesn’t suffer because he doesn’t repent. And he didn’t suffer when he staged his play here in front of you. courtroom or at least say a simple word of apology. Nothing would have prevented him from speaking to a psychiatrist in prison,” said prosecutor Igor Secco in his closing speech.
“This is not a win. It’s not an achievement. I think the jury decided what felt right at this moment. I think it’s right. I don’t know if I’ll forgive it. It’s such a difficult question that I’m not thinking about it. I’m not thinking about him right now but about mom and dad,” she said Made NeumairBenno’s sister, after the sentence was read.