Brussels 26.05.2024 The Italian MEP Francesca Donato husband – architect Angelo Onorato,54, – found dead yesterday afternoon in his car with a plastic band around his neck, blood stains were found on his shirt while there were no traces of a struggle inside the car.
According to the first body inspection carried out by the medical examiner, the entrepreneur died of suffocation. The autopsy, ordered by the deputy prosecutor Ennio Petrigni who coordinates the investigation, will provide more details.
There are currently two main hypotheses: murder or suicide. However, the latter is not taken into consideration by his family and friends.
“They killed my husband Angelo” Donato told her close ones when they called her to find out what happened.
Further in the evening when she was taken to the Flying Squad offices to be interviewed, she repeated “”Angelo didn’t kill himself”, insisting that the was not a suicidal type of character.
Even the people who were with Onorato at the start of summer party organized by the tennis club on Friday May 24 evening speak of a serene and happy person. However the hypothesis of suicide is not discarded by the operatives, for whom all hypotheses remain open during this stage of investigation. There is also an unconfirmed information about his debts.
Based on initial reports, the body was found by MEP Donato and her daughter Carolina. They worried about the cell phone silence, and found the car by GPS. They would have been the first to arrive at the site of the gruesome discovery, as reported by a witness who said he saw two women screaming next to the car with the door open, and that he recognized the MEP who is well known politician in Palermo.
Friends and family profoundly shattered by this sudden death of they speak of a happy family man with a lot of friends in various clubs. Francesca Donato married the entrepreneur in 1999 and on April 24th they celebrated their silver wedding.
The MEP, originally from Ancona, Marche, had moved to Palermo after her marriage, where she gave birth to Salvatore, 25, and Carolina, 21. Both spouses were involved in politics with the Democrazia Cristiana (DC) party, Donato joined after abandoning Lega which brought her to Brussels MEPs ranks.
Two years ago her husband also attempted a political career by running on the DC list in Palermo for the regional elections, obtaining 846 votes but not enough to be elected. Despite this, the entrepreneur was very active alongside his wife and participated in party meetings. Does this activity have anything to do with his death? Assumptions that some in the party put forward, thinking about the European elections on 8 and 9 June.
Anna Van Densky blog 