Caption: Man jailed for killing new father out celebrating son’s birth with crossbow
A 63-year-old man who shot dead a new father with a homemade bow and arrow after a row over noise has been jailed in Italy.
Evaristo Scalco, a shipbuilder, flew into a rage when he was woken up by Alfredo Mirando Romero, 41, and a friend as they drunkenly walked past his home in Genoa after celebrating the birth of Alfredo’s son at a bar.
A court heard he leaned out of his window and saw one of the two peeing on a wall, prompting him to start yelling at them.
They briefly traded insults and left for a few minutes before returning, sparking another argument.
Scalco then grabbed his bow, which he is thought to have made using carpentry skills gained from his job, and nocked an arrow.
The court heard he aimed it at the pair, who migrated to Italy from Peru, and shouted: ‘go away, you s***ty foreigners.’
They reacted by showing him their middle fingers and filming him.
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He fired the arrow, hitting Alfredo and causing catastrophic damage to his liver.
Footage shown in court shows Scalco going outside and telling his victim ‘it hurts, huh? I warned you.’
He then tried to pull the arrow out, succeeding only to break off the shaft, and attempted to stem the bleeding with what appeared to be a cloth.
Alfredo was taken to the hospital – where his wife and newborn were still being cared for – but died following complications during an emergency liver transplant.
Scalco claimed he only wanted to scare the men but used a special boar-hunting arrow
The arrow reportedly had a special three-pointed head normally used to hunt boar. Around thirty normal arrows were also found at Scalco’s flat.
Another of Alfredo’s friends, Jole Lorenzo, said Scalco had tried to pull the arrow out to ‘remove the evidence, but he hurt him even more’.
Scalco told police Alfredo and his friend had thrown firecrackers into his house when they returned, scaring him.
Witnesses told the court they heard firecrackers, and video reportedly showed Scalco throwing back the burnt-out shell of a firecracker.
Alfredo died in the same hospital where his wife and newborn son were still recovering
The 63-year-old claimed he ‘only wanted to scare them’ back and didn’t intend to kill Romero.
But prosecutors said he did not help the victim or call for help until 11 minutes after shooting the arrow.
Pointing to this, the type of arrow used and his comments at the scene, they argued he should be convicted of ‘voluntary murder’.
Scalco’s lawyers told the court: ‘Do you really believe that a 63-year-old man, with no criminal record, considering the consequences, would have intentionally killed?’
The killer was jailed for 23 years and ordered to compensate Alfredo’s widow and child
Judges ruled that he did not deliberately shoot to kill but did intend to his Alfredo with the arrow.
Scalco was found guilty of manslaughter at a hearing last week and sentenced to 23 years in jail.
He was also ordered to pay €100,000 (£85,960) compensation to Alfredo’s widow and €150,000 (£128,940) to their child.
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