Johannesburg - As the former treasurer of the South African Bank of Athens fights to secure bail after being charged with the murder of his wife, Vincenzo Pietropaolo is also under investigation for killing his father.
Pietropaolo was arrested in November on the night of the murder of his estranged wife, Manuela. He is accused of breaking into her Brackenhurst home and shooting her at point-blank range 20 times.
That night, Manuela had been visited by her sister, Serena Nicolaides, who had watched Manuela’s relationship with Pietropaolo deteriorate over several years. The pair separated in 2014, with Pietropaolo moving out of their shared home, briefly staying at his father’s home in the south of Johannesburg.
According to Nicolaides, the couple was continuously arguing through text messages and phone calls over Pietropaolo’s maintenance payments on their shared house.
The estranged couple were in the middle of divorce proceedings although, according to Nicolaides, it was Pietropaolo who had been slowing down the process.
While Manuela often complained to her sister about the slow process, on the night of her murder, she hadn’t mentioned any recent issues with her husband.
It was less than two hours after Nicolaides had left that neighbours heard the barrage of gunshots. Police were summoned immediately and, after interviewing a neighbour who had allegedly seen Pietropaolo’s vehicle in the area, they tracked him to his home in Randburg.
Three sources linked to the investigation confirmed that investigators found Pietropaolo with his bags packed, allegedly set to flee the country.
He was also found with at least two firearms, one of which is under forensic analysis to determine if it was used to kill Manuela.
The other firearm, however, has led investigators to believe that Pietropaolo may have also been involved in the killing of his father, Pasqualino.
Pietropaolo had been staying at his father’s home in March 2017, when the 91-year-old’s body was discovered.
Pasqualino had been shot twice in the head after Pietropaolo had gone to work for the day.
While police initially believed the incident may have been a house robbery gone wrong, nothing had reportedly been stolen.
There were no signs of forced entry.
However, a firearm linked to the crime scene had allegedly gone missing, at least until it was allegedly discovered in Pietropaolo’s possession.
According to two police sources, the murder investigation into Pasqualino’s death has been reopened, with Pietropaolo recently providing a warning statement to the investigators.
This week, Pietropaolo appeared at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, launching a new bail application despite having abandoned such proceedings last year over the lack of prospects of success.
At the time of his initial bail bid, Pietropaolo’s three sons had provided police with affidavits stating why they believed their father should not be released on bail.
Other relatives - including Nicolaides - expressed their fear that should bail be granted, there was no guarantee of their safety.
On Monday, Pietropaolo renewed the bail application through his new lawyer, advocate Sandile Buthelezi.
However, the application was postponed to next week to allow the prosecution time to prepare.
Buthelezi refused to speak about the case, claiming any comment would be “sub judice”.
Meanwhile, Nicolaides told the Saturday Star that if her brother-in-law was released on bail, the lives of her relatives could be at stake.
“We feel he is a genuine danger to us and society. I have a 90-year-old mother who lives on her own. He knows where we all live,” she said.
“The way in which he killed my sister was so brutal No one deserves to die like that, especially not her.”
@ShainGermaner