Italy-based Nigerian sentenced to life imprisonment for murder of Italian lady

Innocent Oseghale, the Italy-based Nigerian sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of an Italian lady, has appealed against a part of the sentence handed to him by the court.

According to UK Daily Mail, Oseghale, 32, was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murder, sexual assault and destruction of the body of Pamela Mastropietro, an 18-year-old recovering drug addict, in 2018.

Oseghale was said to have arrived in Italy in 2014 as an asylum seeker but dropped out of a refugee assistance programme and started selling drugs later.

Mastropietro was murdered after she fled a drug addiction recovery centre in Macerata, central Italy, and made a long distance journey on foot in an attempt to buy drugs.

During her search for drugs, she eventually met Oseghale who had become a local dealer.

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A day after Mastropietro’s meeting with the Nigerian, two suitcases containing her mutilated and dismembered body parts were found in a ditch.

The police also later found Mastropietro’s bloodied clothing at Oseghale’s home.

The Nigerian was arrested for selling drugs to the deceased before detaining, raping and stabbing her to the death.

In his initial testimony, Oseghale claimed Mastropietro died of heroin overdose.

However, an investigation into the Italian’s death later revealed that she died due to successive abdominal stabbings. It was also said that her body was dismembered while she was still alive.

In 2019, Oseghale was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment, with 18 months in solitary confinement.

The Nigerian is presently appealing against part of his conviction for rape, claiming he never had sex with the victim before killing her.

If found to be innocent, his life sentence could be shortened. FIJ