Italy Demands Spy Killer Face Murder Charge
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
ROME – Prosecutors have requested the indictment of an American soldier over the shooting of an Italian intelligence agent at a checkpoint in Iraq last year, a prosecutor said yesterday.
Authorities were seeking the indictment on charges of murder and attempted murder, the official said on condition of anonymity because of a new law allowing only the chief prosecutor to speak to the press.
Prosecutor Erminio Amelio previously has identified the American soldier as Mario Lozano. Local newspapers have reported that Mr. Lozano is from New York.
Fabrizio Cardinali, Mr. Lozano’s court appointed lawyer, said last week he expected his client would be tried in absentia for murder and attempted murder. Officials at the American Embassy could not immediately be reached for comment. The death of Nicola Calipari by American gunfire strained relations between Italy and America.
The agent was heading by car to Baghdad airport on March 4, 2005, after securing the release of an Italian journalist who had been kidnapped when he was shot at the checkpoint.
