Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Killing Peace

Italian 'peace bride' raped, murdered in Turkey
Naked body of artist hitchhiking in bridal gown on Israel peace mission found in forest; 33-year old Turkish man detained after confessing to crime
Associated Press

A 33-year old Italian artist, Giuseppina Pasqualino, also known as Pippa Bacca, was found dead in Turkey on Saturday, after having been raped and murdered. Paqualino was hitchhiking towards Israel dressed in a wedding dress in an appeal for peace.
The woman was last seen on March 31 in the mainly industrial city of Gebze, while hitchhiking to Israel in the wedding dress as part of her "Brides on Tour" project aiming to plead for peace in conflict areas. She disappeared after using her credit card around noon. Police found her naked body hidden in bushes in a forested area near Gebze, after questioning the man suspected of the murder late Friday, the governor's office said.
Police tracked down the suspect when he switched on Pasqualino's mobile phone, having inserted his own SIM card, an Italian Embassy official said. The official asked not to be named because he was not authorized to give information on the police investigation.
The suspect, identified only by his initials M.K., Had previously been convicted of theft, Anatolia reported. He was being questioned in police custody and no charges had been filed.
According to reports, M.K confessed to having picked up Pasqualino in his car, after which he drove into the forest, where he raped her and strangled her to death. Afterwards he attempted to bury the body.

Determinedly working for art
Pasqualino's fiancé said in an interview that the artist was "very loyal. Unfortunately, she happened to meet the wrong man in the wrong place at the wrong time." He also commended the Turkish police on a job well done.
The artist's mother said, "We were hoping she had been kidnapped by the Kurdish. We were trying to contact Muslim officials until we found out she had been murdered. We weren't particularly worried because she had been hitchhiking for a lot of time, and thus was capable of avoiding risky situations. She was a determined person when it had to do with working for art."

Source: Italian 'peace bride' raped, murdered in Turkey




Italian peace artist found dead in Turkey

(CNN) -- An Italian artist missing for nearly two weeks while on a tour to promote peace has been found dead in Turkey, her Web site and Turkish media outlets reported Saturday. She was 33.
Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo, known as Pippa Bacca, was hitchhiking with a friend from Milan, Italy to Jerusalem dressed in wedding dresses as part of what they called "Brides on Tour."
She disappeared March 31 while traveling through Turkey. The Italian and Turkish governments, along with Interpol, had been involved in the search for her, the Italian Foreign Ministry said.
Turkish station NTV and di Marineo's Web site said her body was found Friday night near the village of Gebze, on the eastern edges of Istanbul. The station said an autopsy was still under way and that di Marineo's body would be returned to Italy.
NTV said police had a suspect in the case who burned di Marineo's ID papers and had inserted his own SIM card into di Marineo's mobile phone.
Di Marineo's Web site said the suspect led police to the body, which was buried in a forest under a few centimeters of earth.
The Web site for di Marineo's project said it was her "dream" to hitchhike across the war-torn areas of the Balkans and Mediterranean dressed as a bride to promote peace.
"That's the only dress we'll carry along -- with all stains accumulated during the journey," she wrote.
The two planned to visit artists, craftsmen, museums, and youth clubs along the way.

Source: Italian peace artist found dead in Turkey

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