An architect

Angelo Onorato, cameras support suicide thesis for MEP Donato's husband

The daughter: 'My father was killed, he did not commit suicide'. The rear bonnet of the car was open and the man was wearing a seatbelt. In 2022 he was a candidate in the regional elections in Sicily with Cuffaro's list

25 May 2024Aggiornato il 26 maggio 2024 alle ore 14:38

Morte Angelo Onorato: la scientifica sul luogo del ritrovamento del corpo

4' min read

Key points

A cable tie around the neck
The car's rear bonnet was open.
A letter left to a lawyer friend is under investigation by investigators
"They killed my husband"
Two years ago he ran for the DC in Sicily
A bloodstain at chest height.
Who is Francesca Donato

4' min read

The SUV of Angelo Onorato, the architect and husband of MEP Francesca Donato found dead in his car was parked in a blind spot between two surveillance cameras. It is clear from the image recordings that no vehicle stopped near the professional's Range Rover because all the cars 'filmed' passed in a time incompatible with a stop. Nor were any passers-by on foot filmed. The circumstances would support the suicide thesis, except to speculate that the killer got away by climbing the wall, at least two metres high, that borders the motorway to avoid being filmed. 'I'm going to settle a matter with a person from Capaci, I hope in a good-natured manner'. This was reportedly said to a relative in circles close to the family by the architect, who in the morning went to pick up a family member at the airport and then took him to a party organised for a christening in a municipality near Palermo.

A cable tie around the neck

The victim was found dead in his car in the area of Via Ugo La Malfa. The man was found lifeless with an electrician's band tightened around his neck. The forensic police continued their investigation into Angelo Onorato's car until late Saturday night. The man's lifeless body was only removed shortly before 11pm and taken to the mortuary at the Policlinico. The investigation is being coordinated by prosecutor Maurizio De Lucia and deputy prosecutor Ennio Petrigni who, after being at the scene, ordered the autopsy. Investigators are trying to shed light on what happened at the Viale Regione Siciliana junction. According to initial information, there are no signs of gunshot wounds on the body. Investigators are not ruling out any track, from homicide to suicide, also verifying the economic and patrimonial direction of the entrepreneur.

The rear bonnet of the car was open

The body was found on the driver's seat of a green-coloured Range Rover, parked on the side slip road of viale Regione Siciliana north-west towards Isola delle Femmine. The rear bonnet, according to witnesses, was open and the man was wearing a seatbelt. Investigators from the homicide section of the Palermo Mobile Squad are reconstructing the last moves of the victim, an architect and owner of two furniture shops in Palermo. It seems he had an appointment.

A letter left to a lawyer friend is under investigation

Until late in the evening, a lawyer friend of Angelo Onorato was heard in the offices of the Palermo Mobile Squad. The lawyer introduced himself to the investigators, to say that he had received a letter some time ago from Onorato himself. The contents are top secret. But it seems he was talking about some financial problems due to disputes with some debtors. Onorato was said to have had a business appointment with a man between Carini and Capaci (Palermo) on the day of his death. Then the macabre discovery by Onorato's wife and daughter. Meanwhile, an autopsy has been ordered on Onorato's body, which will be performed between Monday 27 May and Tuesday 28 May.

"They killed my husband"

His MEP wife Francesca Donato had not heard from him since 11am on 25 May. It seems that the entrepreneur had an appointment with someone and that the one near via Ugo La Malfa, where the car was found, was the place chosen to talk. Police and Carabinieri were on the scene. 'They killed my husband Angelo,' said MEP Francesca Donato, and deputy secretary of the DC, speaking to some friends who called her to see if the victim was really her husband, Angelo Onorato.

daughter: 'My father did not commit suicide, he was murdered'

"Incorrect things have been said, so I feel the need to specify how things are: My father did not commit suicide, he was murdered. He was not a person who would have left his family like that, and above all, the way I and my mother found him. I tell you it was not suicide but murder'. Writing this, on social media, on a black background, is Carolina Onorato, the 20-year-old daughter of Angelo Onorato. "May no one dare say or even think," the young woman wrote again, "that my father committed suicide. I really thank everyone for the messages of comfort personified to me if I do not reply'.

Two years ago he ran for the DC in Sicily

After having followed his wife, Francesca Donato, in the electoral campaign five years ago for the European elections, then elected in Brussels as an independent in the League, the businessman Angelo Onorato, who was found dead today in Palermo, had two years ago attempted the political adventure in person, running for the regional elections in Sicily with Totò Cuffaro's DC, obtaining 846 votes and coming eleventh among the sixteen on the list. Having failed to enter the Sicilian Assembly, Onorato had resumed his business activities in the construction sector and had recently renovated the 'Casa' shop, of which he is the owner, in viale Strasburgo. He leaves behind his wife and two children, Salvatore, 25, and Carolina, 21.

A bloodstain at chest height

In addition to the plastic band on the neck of businessman Angelo Onorato, he has a patch of blood at chest level on the right side of his chest, which, investigators say, may have dripped from his mouth. This would explain why initial rumours spoke of shots fired to kill the man. The alarm was raised by his wife Francesca Donato, who had managed to find the position of the car with the GPS. The car with the body was found around 2.30 pm. The investigation is being conducted by the mobile squad. Some passers-by saw the man in the car sitting in the driver's seat and reportedly called 112.

Who is Francesca Donato

Born in Ancona on 25 August 1969, graduated in Venice, graduated in Modena, lawyer in Padua until 2012, then the 'move' to Palermo in 1999, the year of her marriage to Sicilian entrepreneur Angelo Onorato, Francesca Donato gained popularity during the pandemic for her sceptical stance on vaccines and her battles against the green pass. But her involvement in politics dates back to 2013, when "in order to stimulate a media and political debate hitherto absent in Italy on the issue of remaining in the Euro system", she founded 'Progetto Eurexit', an association of entrepreneurs and professionals eager to discuss economic and monetary policies in Europe. In 2014, his candidature for the European Parliament in the North-East and Islands constituencies on the Northern League's lists, then his encore with the Carroccio in 2019 in the Island constituency, this time culminating in his election with 28,460 preferences.