Palermo, 21-year-old killed while trying to break up a fight: the killer confesses

Gaetano Maranzano, arrested for the murder of 21-year-old Paolo Taormina, who was murdered in the heart of Palermo's nightlife scene last night, has admitted to the crime. He told the Carabinieri, who tracked him down at his home in Via Nino Geraci, that he had met the victim by chance last night while he was intervening to break up a fight. Maranzano said that Taormina had harassed his partner some time before and that when he saw him in front of him he lost control and hit him. The investigators are verifying his version.

Taormina, 21, was shot in the head last night in Palermo a few metres from the Teatro Massimo, in the heart of the movida. The victim intervened to break up a fight and stop a group of young men who were beating up a young man who had ended up on the ground. Carabinieri and ambulances were called to the scene but there was nothing for the victim to do.

At around 3.30 a.m., a small group of young men allegedly started a fight in Piazza Spinuzza, between the tables of the 'O Scruscio' restaurant, whose owners were Taormina's parents. Some young men were beating up another young man when the victim intervened to calm the situation. Taormina seemed to have managed to break up the fight, but suddenly one of the members of the gang pulled out a gun and fired a shot at close range aimed at his forehead. The group then fled on scooters. Carabinieri investigators and three ambulances were called to intervene.

investigators are looking at the video surveillance cameras of the many clubs in the area: 'There was a fight. ten of them were beating up a young boy. Paolo came out and told them to stop and move away because they had to work. It seemed to be over, when one of them hit him at close range'. This is the testimony of a friend of the victim, reported by the agencies. 'He was working, he was earning his bread. How can you kill him over a trivial fight?' the young man wonders.