A 77-year-old Italian man got off
with just eight years in jail for killing his 73-year-old wife
in a would-be murder-suicide pact near Bologna in August 2021.
Farmer Mauro Bergonzoni shot his wife Maria Rosa Elmi with his
hunting rifle in their car at Castello di Serravalle on August
21 that year before turning the weapon on himself but failing to
kill himself.
Before losing consciousness he asked police "please, shoot me".
A Bologna court downgraded his charge from premeditated murder
to the killing of a consensual victim.
Elmi had suffered from severe depression for years and had tried
to take her own life in 2019, the court heard.
Prosecutors said she had begged to die.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
