Barbara Raimondo, a lawyer from Genoa, Italy, was jailed for using a voodoo ritual to try to kill an elderly woman (Picture: Newsflash)
A lawyer who used voodoo magic to try and kill an elderly client so she could inherit her house has been convicted.
The bizarre conviction was confirmed despite no evidence to suggest anyone can kill somebody using voodoo magic.
Barbara Raimondo, 58, was appointed the lawyer for the unnamed 86-year-old who was a family friend, the court in Genoa, in Italy, heard.
The court heard how the elderly pensioner made her the sole heir to her fortune, and the lawyer had apparently used that access to steal 1 million euros (£868,000) from the estate.
Raimondo supposedly turned to a ‘voodoo witch’ to perform black magic rituals that were supposed to hasten her client’s death.
It was the voodoo attempted murder that led her to be discovered and authorities then found Raimondo had been plundering her client’s accounts.
Raimondo was convicted after the court accepted that article 49 of the Italian penal code allows the conviction of so-called ‘impossible crimes’.
She has been jailed for five years for embezzlement and forgery and a further 18 months on probation for the bizarre voodoo plot.
Her conviction was confirmed despite no evidence to suggest anyone can kill somebody using voodoo magic (Picture: Newsflash)
Judge Paola Faggioni also ordered Raimondo to be disbarred as a lawyer for life and to pay 1 million euros in compensation.
Raimondo’s lawyer, Alessandro Vaccari, said he plans to appeal in a bid to have the voodoo charge and sentence dropped.
He said: ‘We hoped that this accusation would be dropped. My client believes in sorceresses, but we believe that in the appeal, this accusation will be dismissed.’
Paolo Dogliatti, who is the lawyer for the 86-year-old victim, said: ‘I think it would be fair to say that she is very distressed, she put all of her trust and her faith in the lawyer, naming her as her sole heir, and the other tried to benefit from her death. It’s very difficult now for my client to regain her faith in mankind.’
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