1975

04 September, Ponte del Brenta (PD)
Antonio Niedda, 44 years old, pinned by Public Security

Traffic Police officer on duty at the “Milliava” barracks in Padua, on the morning of September 4th he is designated to the anti-realt service. After checking at the East Padua motorway exit, at 9:30 a.m. he heads with his van to Ponte di Brenta, an area of Padua. Arrived in via delle Ceramiche, he notices a white Fiat 128 with two people on board stopped on the other side of the road. After asking for driving licences, Niedda’s colleague was heading to the van for ritual checks. Carlo Picchiura, one of the two stopped, a former Worker’s Power passed to the Red Brigades gets out of the car and opens fire. Niedda is hit immediately and collapses to the ground, reached by five bullets. His colleague is saved only thanks to a jump that puts him in the shelter of the van and thanks to the fact that Picchiura’s gun jams. The two attempt to escape, but are joined and handked by Antonio’s colleague.

Picchiura in 1977 was sentenced to 26 years in prison. The other arrested, Pietro Despali, will be a stranger to the story, having found himself accidentally on board the car as an acquaintance of the Picchiura but unaware that he had given himself to the fugitive.