Who is Chico Forte, from sporting success to life imprisonment for murder in the United States

Chico Forte will return to Italy after more than 20 years: this is the news that has been circulating in recent hours on social media and newspapers around the world. This was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Luigi From May, He described it as “a very important result rewarding long and patient political and diplomatic action.” It was, in fact, the year 2000 when strong, Now 61 years old, he was sentenced to life in prison for the murder and forced to live in a prison in Miami, Florida. But who is Chico Forte and why did his return home cause such a sensation?

From sporting success to luck with Telemike

Enrico “Chico” Forte, before landing on the judicial news pages, was a celebrity a sailor And also a TV producer. born in Trieste In the early 1960s, he was among the first in the world to perform Somersault Back with a surfboard, even prof Car accident In 1987 he ended his sports career. He then reinvented himself first as a sports journalist, and then as a television producer and event organizer. 1990 he participated in the TV show Telemike As an expert in the history of surfing, he was able to make a large sum of money that he was allowed to move to United States of America, Where he not only met what would become the mother of his children, Heather Crane, but where he managed to change his life by becoming a TV producer.

Dale Pike is killed

But his luck did not last long. In 1998 he was charged with murder Dale Pike Son of Australian businessman Tony, who himself has entered into Forte purchase negotiations Pike Hotel From Ibiza, The nightlife symbol of the Spanish island. Dale Pike arrived in Miami to meet the Italian on February 15 of that year, but a few hours later he was found lifeless in Beach. Police eyes immediately focused on Forte, who initially denied meeting the man, then said he left him in front of the parking lot after escorting him at the airport. The interrogation took place without a Lawyer, Violation makes the evidence obtained null and void in US law. This is how A. Processing That occurred in an extremely difficult climate: someone even came to hint that Miami Police He wanted revenge for a documentary produced by Chico Forte himself called “Medusa’s Smile,” in which the official reconstructions were made, according to Andrew Cunanan, the serial killer who killed Gianni Versace, You are free.

Sentenced to life imprisonment and return to Italy

But in 2000 came the knockout. The popular jury called for a ruling in the case guilty From killing “Without a reasonable doubt“Despite the excesses in the interrogation, doubts about the motive, the absence of traces of DNA and fingerprints at the crime scene. And above all despite passing a polygraph test, which the Italian voluntarily took, and therefore was sentenced.Upheld judgment He was held at Dade Correctional Facility in Florida City near Miami, although he always continued to push his innocence. Over the years there were many battles carried out by political and entertainment figures to demand a review and launch of the trial. Until December 23, 2020, current Secretary of State Luigi Di Maio announced that the Florida governor had accepted Forte’s request to take advantage of the benefits provided by the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (ECHR), with the possibility of his transfer to Italy after more than twenty years of detention in the United States.