May 19, 1980: Naples
Giuseppe Amato, 49 years old, Budget Assessor of the Campania Region
On the morning of May 19, 1980, Pino Amato, the regional assessor for Budget and Planning, had just finished breakfast. For the past three days, he had been picked up by Ciro Esposito, driving a grey metallic armored Fiat 131, provided by Vincenzo Scotti, a prominent national figure of the Christian Democracy (DC) party. Amato and Scotti had formed the “Nuova Napoli” group, a study center aimed at renewing the party. With an upcoming election promising to be difficult, all DC party officials were fully engaged. Given the threats he had received and the tense climate in Campania and the rest of Italy, the armored car was deemed necessary. Pino Amato lived with his family at 145 Via Chiaia, in a noble palace.
Shortly after, the car carrying the regional assessor began its usual morning route to the Regional Palace in Santa Lucia. Near Vico Alabardieri, close to the “Umberto” restaurant, a blue Fiat 500 blocked traffic. A woman at the wheel was trying to park but couldn’t manage it. The Fiat 131 also came to a halt. Suddenly, the woman exited the car and approached the vehicle with Pino Amato. Accompanied by a young man around 30, wearing a trench coat and dark glasses, she wore a dark jacket and carried a large bag. She looked directly at Pino Amato and confirmed, “It’s him, it’s really him.” The man then pulled out a large pistol with a bifilar magazine and fired. The modified war Beretta, equipped with a silencer made from a bicycle pump stuffed with fiberglass, shot silently. More than ten bullets hit Amato in the forehead, temple, sternum, and left chest. He died immediately.
The driver, Ciro Esposito, was taken by surprise but managed to react, drawing his own pistol and firing back. The woman returned fire but missed Esposito. The two assassins fled toward Piazza dei Martiri, joined by two more accomplices. Esposito continued shooting, wounding the male killer in the leg. Another passerby, 78-year-old engineer Domenico Tucci, was hit in the ankle. The alarm was raised, and amidst the chaos, the wounded killer struggled but managed to escape, eventually hijacking a Skoda with the keys still in it.
Numerous calls alerted the police, and the chase ensued through the streets of Naples. At the Politeama Theater, the killer met his accomplices from Via Monte di Dio. The Skoda was soon identified, and an intense pursuit began, with the fugitives throwing grenades that fortunately did not explode. Police returned fire, wounding the driver again. The chase ended in Santa Lucia, where the assassins were surrounded and arrested. Declaring themselves political prisoners, they surrendered without further resistance. Among the captured were Bruno Seghetti, 30, from Rome, who was wounded, and Maria Teresa Romeo, 25, from Avellino. The others, Salvatore Colonna and Luca Nicolotti, carried forged IDs.
Giuseppe Amato, born in Turin in 1930, moved to Naples at a young age and started his political career in the DC section of Capodimonte. Having grown up in Catholic Action, he served as the administrative director of Formez. He was married to Mariolina Ciccarelli, with whom he had two sons, Arnaldo and Fabrizio. Known for his innovative political ideas, he advocated dialogue with the Communist Party and became a leading figure in the Andreottian faction in Campania, alongside Cirino Pomicino. His assassination was claimed by the Red Brigades with a phone call to the Ansa news agency: “This is the Red Brigades. An armed unit of the organization has executed the regional DC Budget Assessor, Giuseppe Amato…”