“Ninety-one stab wounds in Italian’s body”: This is how the gruesome killing of Giuseppe Versace, an Italian national, was reported by Melbourne newspaper 'The Truth' on 7 October 1945.
"Disfigured and disembowelled by 91 stab wounds,” began the article and delved into morbid details surrounding the death of the 40-year-old immigrant who was also known as 'Fat Joe'.
According to officials at the time, the culprits were three Italians, named Domenico Pezzimenti, Domenico Demarte and Michele Scriva.
After the homicide, Pezzimenti and DeMarte turned themselves in and were incriminated for murder.
Their explanation for the horrible act involved a convoluted story, mixing jealousy, insults to the honour of the sister-in-law of one of the men and an intoxicated brawl.
A heated argument descended into a fistfight and knives were pulled out.
The men admitted responsibility for inflicting less than ten stab wounds, claiming that when they left the alleged crime scene in Fitzroy, Mr Versace was still alive.
The trial ended in the acquittal of the accused, with the jury unable to reach a guilty verdict “beyond any reasonable doubt”.
At the time, it was considered a "crime of passion". However, 75 years later, it is being interpreted differently.
The crime scene in Fitzroy. Source: Public Record Office Victoria
In January 2021, Victoria’s Public Records Office released the criminal trial brief to the public, decades after it was closed under Section 9 of Victoria's Public Records Act.
The homicide details suggest a modus operandi bearing hallmarks of a mafia killing rather than a crime of passion, according to Dr Anna Sergi, senior lecturer in criminology at the University of Essex, whose studies focus on how the Calabrian mafia (‘ndrangheta) went international.
In fact, it could have been one of the first mafia murders in Australia.
According to Ms Sergi, some details in this story are highly suspicious and point to motivations quite different from an alleged crime of passion.
The way Fat Joe was killed, and the prompt self-reporting of the culprits, are warning signs for Dr Sergi.
A crime of passion would have been committed in a totally different way, especially at a time when the way a killing was executed carried much more meaning than today.
The depositions document, with alleged mafia leader Antonio Barbaro (here named Barbara) as first witness. Source: Public Record Office Victoria
“They would have cut off his genitals and wouldn’t have focused so much on the body with dozens of stabs,” the expert told SBS Italian.
“Disembowelling the body with 91 stab wounds would have sent a different message: they wanted the victim to disappear, erasing his face and body through disfiguration.”
She says the two men turning themselves in was also very unusual.
"It looks like they entered a deliberate damage control mode," explains Dr Sergi, adding that it is not possible to deduce now whether the murder was premeditated or not and what were the real motives.
"They tried to manipulate the truth and offered a consistent version of what happened."
They sang the same tune in front of the police.
The police believed their account of the events and incriminated them for murder. Eventually, the homicide was considered self-defence and the men were free to go.
“The idea of two Calabrian men spontaneously walking to a police station, confessing a murder is completely at odds with what we know about the Calabrian community at that time,” explains Dr Sergi.
“That community was extremely close-knit as a reaction to the discrimination they were subjected from mainstream Australia. Nobody would have trusted the police at the time.”
“To me, turning themselves in is a clear sign that the whole event was pre-organised.”
A third element adds to the theory that it was a mafia murder and not a spontaneous crime.
Domenico Pezzimenti' statement. Source: Public Record Office Victoria
Antonio Barbaro was the first witness and the man who recognised Mr Versace’s body at the morgue.
That name alone is like a canary in a coal mine.
“It was a very important name, definitely not an ordinary name. He was considered to be one of the three founders of ‘ndrangheta in Victoria.”
“The simple fact that his name was linked to this sordid affair makes you think.”
Listen to Dr Anna Sergi’s interview in Italian.
LISTEN TO
Un delitto di gelosia del 1945 potrebbe essere uno dei primi delitti di 'ndrangheta in Australia
SBS Italian
13:13
