Heather Barnett murder, 13 years ago the trial against Danilo Restivo in Winchester

THIRTEEN YEARS AGO

• On November 8, 2010, 13 years ago, Danilo Restivo appears for the first time in front of the Winchester Crown Court: He is accused of killing Heather Barnett, her neighbor in Bournemouth, Great Britain. He pleads “not guilty”. The trial against him is set for 4 May 2011 and ends with the sentence tolife sentence (later commuted by the Court of Appeal to 40 years in prison). The man was also sentenced to an abbreviated sentence 30 years of imprisonment for the murder of Elisa Clapswhich took place in Potenza in 1993

Heather Barnett murder, what we know about the case of the English woman killed by Restivo

HEATHER BARNETT

• In 2002 Danilo Restivo moved to Bournemouth, in England. Lives in the Richmond Park area: the same as Heather Barnett, (pictured) her neighbor. On November 12 of that year the woman she is killed and mutilated at home, her children find her. The victim had in his hands a tuft of hair: an element that leads Dorset police to suspect Restivo. The latter in fact had the habit of cutting tufts of hair from women he met by chance. He had emerged from some complaints both in Potenza and Bournemouth

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ELISA CLAPS

• In addition to the murder of the English seamstress in the UK, Danilo Restivo was sentenced in Italy to 30 years in an abbreviated sentence formurder of Elisa Claps. The 16-year-old girl disappeared on Sunday 12 September 1993, the last to have seen her was Restivo himself, 21 years old at the time. They met in the church of Holy Trinity of Potenza: it is precisely here that the girl’s remains will be found in 2010

The locations of the Elisa Claps case, from the Church of the Holy Trinity in Bournemouth

CHARGED TWICE IN MAY 2010

• The investigations into the two cases took a step forward a week apart, in 2010. The May, 20th Restivo is arrested in England and formally charged with the murder of Heather Barnett. The May 27th the judiciary of Salerno orders the arrest of the man from Potenza, holding him responsible for the killing of Elisa Claps. In the photo, the moment of arrest in England

“Where no one looks – The Elisa Claps case”, the Sky docuseries arrives

THE FIRST HEARING OF THE BARNETT CASE

• L’May 11, 2011 is held there first hearing of the process relating to the case Heather Barnett. It takes place in Courtroom 2 of the Crown Court Winchester: Restivo, accused of murder, declares himself innocent and says he knows nothing about the affair. The English prosecutors – Michael Bowes And Roger Climie – they call their colleagues from Salerno to testify. Journalists are asked to remain confidential so as not to influence the popular jury, which will be called upon to express its opinion. Restivo is defended by lawyer David Jeremy

Elisa Claps, the podcast “Where Nobody Looks” also available on Youtube

FALSE ALIBI

• An important turning point during the trial comes when the prosecutor Michael Bowes identify some flaws in the alibi used by Restivo. The 38-year-old had in fact said that he went to the Nacro training center as every day, where he took computer lessons. Affirmation that comes though denied piece by piece by the prosecution, also thanks to the witness Claire George

THE SENTENCE

• The process ends with life sentence. Barnett’s murder was so horrific and ”depraved” that no minimum prison term would have been appropriate, says Judge Ian Burnett. “I find no extenuating circumstances. She will never get out of prison again.”, he adds. Again: ”The prosecution argued that the circumstances in which Claps was killed so closely resemble those in which Barnett was killed that there can be no doubt that the murderers are the work of the same person: that is, of Restivo”

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©Ansa

“EPOCAL”

• The sentence comes shortly before the funeral of Elisa Claps, whose body was found only in March 2010 in the attic of the church of the Santissima Trinità in Potenza: ”The life sentence weighs like a boulder on Elisa’s story”, was the comment of Gildo Claps, the brother of the Italian girl killed on September 12, 1993 after meeting Restivo in that very church. The Claps family lawyer, Giuliana Scarpettadefined the “epochal” ruling. In the photo the girl’s mother, Filomena Iemma

IN ITALY

• Subsequently, Danilo Restivo asks to appeal appeal. It comes to him grantedbut Alone against the punishment oflife sentence. Means that he will no longer be able to prove his innocence in England. The appeals court commutes the life sentence to 40 years in prison. In Italy, on November 11, 2011 Restivo is sentenced to 30 years of imprisonment with abbreviated rite. The appeal trial was held on 13 March 2013, in which he participated under the provisional extradition regime from Great Britain

THE APPEAL AND THE CASSATION

• On this occasion the man reiterates his innocence, offers his condolences to the Claps family and expresses the desire to ”be able to bring flowers to Elisa’s grave”. The victim’s mother leaves the courtroom. Shortly thereafter, the Court confirmed the conviction. In 2014 the word goes to the Supreme Court: excludes the aggravating circumstance of cruelty, but confirms the sentence of 30 years’ imprisonment. Today Restivo is in prison in England

Elisa Claps murder, from her disappearance to the discovery of her body 17 years later. History