A mum accused of killing her four-year-old daughter and faking her kidnapping is facing 30 years in prison.
Martina Patti allegedly took Elena Del Pozzo to an empty field before killing her with a sharp weapon shortly before her fifth birthday.
The youngster’s body was bagged up and half-buried near the family’s home, as reported on Need To Know.
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After the alleged murder, Patti, 25, reportedly called her parents and the girl’s father to claim that her daughter had been kidnapped from nursery school.
She then went to the police with her mother and father to file an official report, according to officials.
Patti reportedly told officers that in 2021 she had found threatening messages outside the family home and suggested a link.
The police investigated but quickly discovered her story did not add up.
Patti, from Mascalucia, Italy, then confessed to the killing without ever revealing the motive.
Prosecutors charged her with murder with aggravating factors, concealment of a corpse and simulation of crime.
The Catania Public Prosecutor’s Office has asked that she be jailed for 30 years.
Prosecutors have taken into account her confession, her cooperation with the authorities and her young age at the time of the crime.
The girl’s father and his parents have joined the case as civil parties.
The verdict is expected on 12 July.
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