Palermo court hands life sentences to father and two 'healers' for Altavilla exorcism murders

The crime

In February 2024, Antonella Salamone, 41, and her sons Kevin, 16, and Emanuel, 5, were tortured and killed in the family home in Altavilla Milicia, a coastal town east of Palermo. The perpetrators claimed they were performing a 'demonic purification' ritual, a series of exorcisms that ended in the victims’ deaths. Carabinieri found the bodies on 11 February 2024.

The verdict

On 2 July 2026, the first section of the Palermo Assize Court, presided by judge Vincenzo Terranova, sentenced all three defendants to life imprisonment. Giovanni Barreca, a local mason and husband to the murdered woman, had been the subject of a partial mental infirmity argument. The prosecution sought 30 years for him and life for self-styled healers Sabrina Fina and Massimo Carandente, described in the indictment as a 'diabolical couple'. The court rejected the mitigation and imposed life terms on all three.

The case of Miriam Barreca

The couple’s then 17-year-old daughter Miriam was tried separately in a juvenile proceeding. She received a first-instance sentence of 12 years and 8 months but was acquitted on appeal, with the court ruling that she had been forced to participate in the killings.

Key dates