Italian Businesswoman Sentenced to 18 Years for Murder After Car Attack on Handbag Thief

An Italian businesswoman has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for murder after fatally running over a man who had stolen her handbag, but will serve her sentence confined to her home.

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The recording does not show self-defense, but 'behavior that causes disbelief'.

Cinzia Dal Pino, 65, was convicted in Italy for the killing of Noureddine Mezgui, 52, a Moroccan national, in Viareggio, Tuscany, in September 2024. Surveillance footage captured Dal Pino pursuing Mezgui in her luxury Mercedes GLE after he snatched her purse outside a restaurant. The video shows her striking him with her car and then reversing over him multiple times before exiting her vehicle, retrieving her bag, and driving away. Mezgui died at the scene.

During her trial, Dal Pino asserted she did not intend to kill Mezgui but merely to stop him and recover her belongings, which she claimed included important documents, house keys, and her phone. She also stated she feared the thief, alleging he threatened her with a knife. Her lawyer argued she acted out of fear, aiming only to stop the assailant, not kill him.

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Her family from Morocco had previously sought a stricter sentence, emphasizing that their brother had lived in Italy for 24 years and, according to the family, was a good man.

However, prosecutors successfully argued that Dal Pino's actions constituted excessive revenge, and the court dismissed the notion of necessary self-defense. Despite the severe sentence, Dal Pino will serve her time under house arrest, a condition she has been under since her arrest, monitored with an electronic tag. The case has sparked public debate, with some highlighting the circumstances of the theft while others condemned the brutal manner of Mezgui's death.

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Nothing can justify the fact that he was run over multiple times and left to die.