"Police Pressured Witnesses to Give False Testimony"... Innocent Italian Shepherd Freed After 33 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment

A man who was wrongfully imprisoned for 33 years in Italy after being falsely accused of murder has finally been acquitted.

33 Years of Wrongful Imprisonment... It Was Later Revealed That a Witness Gave False Testimony Under Police Pressure

Beniamino Chunquedu holding a press conference after being acquitted in the retrial.
[Image source=Captured from ANSA news agency]

On the 28th (local time), ANSA reported that the Rome Court of Appeal overturned the original life sentence verdict on the evening of the 26th in the retrial of Beniamino Chunchedu (58), ruling that "(Chunchedu) did not commit the crime" and acquitted him. Chunchedu, who was a 25-year-old shepherd in 1991, was accused of murdering a farm owner, his son, and another shepherd on the western Italian island of Sardinia and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

He strongly maintained his innocence, but the police arrested him based solely on the testimony of a man who was seriously injured in the incident. This man initially stated that he did not recognize the perpetrator, but it was later revealed that he reversed his statement under police pressure and identified Chunchedu as the culprit.

When the acquittal was announced, his family and friends applauded joyfully. Some even shed tears. At a press conference after the acquittal, Chunchedu expressed, "The nightmare is finally over." He emphasized again, "They told me to repent in prison, but I had nothing to repent for because I did nothing wrong."

Having spent his youth in prison, Chunchedu is expected to receive compensation from the Sardinian authorities. Arene Testa, the secretary-general of the Radical Party who publicized the case and led the retrial, pointed out, "The judicial system must be reformed to prevent a second Beniamino Chunchedu from emerging."

Similar Case to the 'Lee Chun-jae Serial Murder 8th Incident' Where Yoon Seong-yeo Was Wrongly Accused

Yoon Sung-yeo. [Photo by Yonhap News]

A similar case occurred in South Korea. Among the cases where 10 women were raped and murdered in the Hwaseong area of Gyeonggi Province between 1986 and 1991, Yoon Seong-yeo, who was 22 years old at the time, was identified as the perpetrator of the '8th incident.' After being indicted by the prosecution, Yoon admitted to the crime and was sentenced to life imprisonment for rape and murder. Later, Yoon appealed, claiming he had made a false confession under police coercion, but both the second trial and the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal. Ultimately, Yoon served 20 years in prison and was paroled in 2009 as a model prisoner.

Ten years later, in 2019, the police reanalyzed DNA found on the victim's belongings and identified Lee Chun-jae (61), who was serving a life sentence, as the true culprit. After Lee confessed to all the crimes, Yoon filed for a retrial in November of that year. The court handling the retrial acquitted Yoon, stating, "The defendant's confession was obtained through harsh treatment while illegally detained and confined, so it lacks evidentiary value," and explained, "On the other hand, Lee Chun-jae's confession is very detailed and objectively reasonable, making it highly credible." The court added, "Due to the negligence of past investigative agencies, a wrongful verdict was made," and apologized, saying, "As a member of the judiciary, I apologize to the defendant who suffered great mental and physical pain during the long imprisonment."

The court awarded Yoon 4 billion won in damages, deducting the approximately 2.517 billion won he had already received as criminal compensation, leaving 1.87 billion won as the state's compensation. The court also ordered state compensation for Yoon's deceased father and siblings, awarding 200 million won for the late father and 50 million won each for two siblings.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.