1982
April 27, Naples
Raffaele Delcogliano, 37 years old, Regional Councilor for Labor, Campania
Aldo Iermano, 44 years old, Regional Employee
Officially, the shooters were members of the Brigatisti del Partito della Guerriglia. The brutal double murder resulted in convictions. What has never been proven, despite being more than a hypothesis, is that the terrorists were armed by a pact between terrorism, the Camorra, and politics. One of the few certainties in this tragic story is that a courageous and honest man, along with his most trusted friend and collaborator, died in a violent hail of bullets. That man was Raffaele Delcogliano. His trusted friend was Aldo Iermano. They shared an old and sincere friendship, unbroken until their last breath.
Raffaele was born on November 10, 1944. A native of Benevento in Campania, he studied law and became a lawyer. However, he was always driven by a deep passion for politics, which he pursued from a young age, eventually becoming a City Councilor in Benevento, recognized as a rising star in local politics.
On April 27, 1982
The Brigatisti del Partito della Guerriglia’s hit squad had meticulously planned the ambush. In fact, it appears that the terrorists had attempted and failed about ten such ambushes before that day, but not the last one, not on April 27.
The night before, Raffaele was at a dinner in Pietrelcina with colleagues, staying late before returning to Benevento. Nevertheless, the next morning, as always, Aldo Iermano—his most trusted friend, driver, and collaborator—picked him up. Together, they were headed to the Regional Office in Santa Lucia.
A phone call from Benevento alerted the waiting terrorists in Naples that the Councilor had left and was not alone. Around 10:00 AM, the Alfetta carrying Aldo and Raffaele reached Via Marina, in the city center, along the road bordering the port area. The hit squad (Enzo Stoccoro, Emilio Manna, Annamaria Cotone, and Natalia Ligas) acted decisively. They blocked the passage with a Fiat 128 and then unleashed a hail of bullets. There was no escape for Aldo and Raffaele, both of whom were killed by the terrorists’ bullets.
The news was a true shock. Delcogliano’s murder came exactly one year after the kidnapping of Councilor Ciro Cirillo, who was later released thanks to mediation by the Cutolo Camorra. The link between terrorists, mobsters, and political circles was too evident for such an action to be carried out without its perpetrators being accountable to anyone. Many attended Raffaele’s funeral in Benevento, including civil authorities, institutional representatives, and the top leaders of the Christian Democracy party at the time.
The Judicial Proceedings
Investigations immediately focused on politically motivated terrorism. The Brigatisti del Partito della Guerriglia were quickly identified as responsible for the attack, as well as for the July 1982 deaths of Deputy Chief Antonio Ammaturo and officer Pasquale Paola.
Sentences handed down a few years later confirmed this definitively. However, no trace was found of the sinister pact between terrorism, the Camorra, and politics. Yet Raffaele had delved into the sensitive and challenging world of labor reform, demanding transparency in the misuse of public funds, directly threatening the Camorra’s lucrative interests in the process.