Cardiologist killed in Favara: Psychiatrist claims killer was “totally incapable of understanding and intending”

Last Updated: October 5, 2023

Psychiatrist Cristina Camilleri, an expert witness in the Agrigento Assize Court, chaired by Giuseppe Miceli, recognized that the 47-year-old janitor Adriano Vetro (pictured) was mentally unfit when he confessed to the murder of 62-year-old cardiologist Gaetano Alaimo. The psychiatrist stated that Vetro was unable to understand and control his actions due to his delusional disorder. Surveillance cameras and the testimony of the clinic secretary, who witnessed the murder, revealed that Vetro waited for the doctor in his office and shot him in the back. The prosecutor accuses him of premeditation and trivial motives, such as the doctor’s refusal to issue a certificate required for a driver’s license renewal, as well as possessing an illegal and stolen firearm from 1979. Vetro’s defense lawyers requested a psychiatric evaluation, which concluded that he had a total mental deficiency. However, the victim’s family lawyer requested the disqualification of the psychiatrist for expressing a judgment on the defendant’s mental capacity as a medical director of the local health authority. The court ruled that the extension of their therapeutic relationship did not make her testimony incompatible and adjourned the hearing until October 26th.