1977

July 08, Rome
Mauro Amato, 21 years old, student

Rome, Trastevere district, July 8, 1977. It is 21:30 and the trattoria ‘Sora Assunta’ is in full working activity. A banquet of five people is taking place in the center of the hall. Among the diners is Domenico Velluto, 29, a security guard. Next to him Mauro Amato, a 21-year-old student who sits next to his girlfriend, Olga Mastri. At the table with the boys there are also Olga’s father and an aunt of the girl, Mrs. Maria.
The serenity of the cheerful table is interrupted by the entrance to the room of a tall and sturdy young man with sunglasses. Approaching the group, the boy pulls out a gun and explodes four shots triggering general panic. The goal was the security guard but to die before the eyes of his girlfriend is instead the young Mauro Amato who sumps on the table in a puddle of blood, while Olga falls to the ground exanimate in the throes of a fainting.
Despite the exchange of persons, the murder is equally claimed by the ‘Communist Armed Strive’ group with a series of threats to the security guard. Domenico Velluto had just been acquitted in court for the events of April 7, 1976, when he fatally shot a left-wing militant, Mario Salvi, after he had thrown Molotov bottles at the headquarters of the Ministry of Grace and Justice. Accused of pre-intentional murder, Veluto had been recognized for the legitimate use of weapons.