19. 11. 09. - 16:00

• more Around the World news
• RSS Feed Around the World

19. 11. 09. - 16:00

Police says they have arrested CCTV Mafia killer

Policemen in southern Italy say they have caught the hitman who cold bloodedly gunned down a Mafia boss in broad daylight outside a bar.

CCTV footge released by local police show how Mario Bacio Terracino, 53, was first felled by a gunshot to the arm.

His attacker then stood over him and finished him off with a single shot to the back of the head before strolling away.

Police in Naples, where the local Mafia are known as the Camorra, now say they have arrested the hitman that they named as Costanzo Apice, 27, after he was spotted in Castel Volturno, on the outskirts of Naples.

He has been taken to a jail in Poggioreale.

At the time police said the killing of Terracino, was part of a feud with a rival gang over the control of a lucrative drug trafficking network.

Terracino was also known to police as a bank robber and was accused of a £1.8 million heist committed in 1991, but was never convicted. His trademark was said to be entering buildings from below through the sewer network.

Police in Naples also revealed that Terracino had also been part of a Camorra gang that had kidnapped Italian Socialist politician Guido De Martino in 1977. He was snatched of a street in Naples and held for six weeks before being freed after a one billion lire ransom was paid - £430.000.

In the video Tarracino is seen smoking a cigarette outside a bar in the central Sanita neighborhood. The killer enters the bar, where there are at least six people, then emerges and shoots Tarracino at point blank range.

None of the bystanders moves a finger, although it is hard to say if that is from genuine indifference or fear of retaliation.

A woman is seen rubbing off her scratch-and-win lottery card as Tarracino is killed in front of her. A cigarette-seller moves his stall a few meters down the road, while a man holding a toddler in his arms looks at the victim and walks away.

A woman counting change in her purse jumps in shock at the sound of the gunshot and turns to see the killer calmly walking away. He was even said to be smiling.

So far this year, there have been more than 30 Camorra murders in Naples, many of which remain unsolved and many of them stem from feuds between rival clans.

In an attempt to control the extent of organised crime in the city the Italian government has flooded the area with troops, but with little effect.

One of the bloodiest hits was last September, when six Africans who tried to muscle into the drugs trade were shot dead outside a shop.

The Camorra is much more violent than the Sicilian Mafia and also has several branches in Britain. In 2006, Naples mobster Raffaele Caldarelli was arrested in Hackney, east London.

Austrian Times

Jennifer Rostock to strike twice
German punk rock stars Jennifer Rostock will perform in Austria twice as part of their current tour, it has been announced.

Salzburg boy foils attempted abduction
A 10-year-old school boy had a narrow escape on Monday when a man tried to abduct him on his way home from school.

Siemens lay-offs may hit Austrian workers
Munich technology firm Siemens announced yesterday (Weds) that it would lay off 4,200 workers in its IT division SIS.

Schwarzenegger Museum to open in summer
The house where Arnold Schwarzenegger was born is to open as a museum.

Car dealers spared by downturn
The economic downturn has had minimal effect on Austrian car dealers as the number of newly registered cars soared last year.

Minister calls for CO2 emissions tax
Austria's environment minister has called for the introduction of a carbon tax that he says would bring in 1.5 to 2.0 billion Euros of revenue annually, according to today’s (Thurs) edition of the newspaper Die Presse.

Seasonal workers number cut
There will be 3.5 per cent fewer foreign seasonal workers in agriculture and forestry this year than in 2009, Social Democratic (SPÖ) Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer said today (Thurs).

Google Street View cars to roll over Austria again
Google Street View cars are expected to drive all across Austria again this weekend as temperatures are expected to rise.

Asylum seeker tries to torch himself
An Afghan asylum seeker tried to burn himself to death at a petrol station in Hall in Tyrol’s Innsbruck-Land district yesterday (Weds), police said.

Majority believe in some kind of God
Sixty-nine per cent of Austrians believe in some kind of God, according to results of a new poll by Linz public opinion research institute IMAS released today (Thurs).