The case of an Italian man accused of killing two Irish women in a hit-and-run incident in Rome last year resumed today and was later adjourned.
Roberto Vernarelli, father of 33-year-old Friedrich Vernarelli, the man accused of the manslaughter of Irish women Elizabeth Gubbins and Mary Collins on St Patrick's night in 2008, was the key witness when his son's trial resumed in Rome.
Although there had been speculation that today's hearing might see a sentence being handed down, Judge Anna Maria Pazienza adjourned the case until next month in response to calls from defence lawyers who claimed that they need more time to track down two key Hungarian witnesses.
Repeating a line of defence that the Vernarelli family has espoused since the trial began almost exactly one year ago, Mr Vernarelli once again suggested that his son had not been driving the car which killed the two Irish women. Rather, he called on police to question two Hungarians - Andras Kazma and Zolt Balogh - one of whom he claims was driving the car at the time of the fatal crash.
When traffic police woke him up early on the morning of March 18th, 2008, Mr Vernarelli Snr, himself a retired traffic policeman with more 30 years' experience, initially believed them when they told him that his son had killed two people while driving along Rome's Lungotevere road at 150 kilometres per hour in a "drunk and drugged" state. He said that he became furious with his son and shook him hard, shouting at him, "What have you done?". Friedrich, however, could only reply, "I don't remember".
It was only later when he examined the police report that Mr Vernarelli Snr began to have doubts about the manner in which the investigation had been handled. For a start, he said, no evidence was taken from three American tourists who, along with another US tourist, Manuel Ruiz, had witnessed the incident.
Furthermore, police had paid no attention to that which happened when Manuel Ruiz was later taken to Rome's Santo Spirito hospital to make a formal identification of Friedrich Vernarelli, who had in the meantime been arrested by police after crashing into cars and a signpost further up the Tiber riverside. .
Mr Ruiz, he said, had told police that the man pointed out to him, namely Friedrich Vernarelli, was not the man who had been standing beside the killer vehicle on the Lungotevere seconds after the incident.
Earlier the court had also heard the evidence of psychologist Paola Papolla who, at the request of the Vernarelli family, examined Friedrich Vernarelli on March 19th, two days after the crash. Ms Papolla said Mr Vernarelli Jnr was in a very depressed and anxious state and told her he could not remember anything.
Friedrich Vernarelli said he had been told he had killed two people but could remember nothing about it. He told the psychologist that he had killed two people and that his life "had no more sense". Asked why Friedrich Vernarelli could remember nothing about the accident, Ms Papolla said that it was not unusual for someone with a high level of alcohol content in their blood, as Mr Vernarelli had, to suffer from a "blackout".
Asked by the public prosecutor to explain just why Mr Vernarelli Jnr had admitted to police to being the driver of the killer car, both on the night and in later interrogations, Ms Papolla claimed that he might have said this because he was repeating that which had been told to him by investigators. She claimed he might have been a victim of "suggestive" questioning.
At the end of today's hearing, defence lawyers for Mr Vernarelli called on Judge Pazienza to issue an international Rogatory Letter, which would de facto enable the court to take a deposition, probably in Hungary, from Mr Kazma and Mr Balogh.
The judge declined to issue an immediate ruling on the request but will announce her decision when the case resumes on October 16th.