Milan prosecutors seek immediate trial for ex-officer in Rogoredo killing, alleging premeditation and witness tampering

The killing in Rogoredo

Abderrahim Mansouri, a 28-year-old drug dealer known as Zack, was killed on 26 January in the Rogoredo wood, a known open-air drug market on the southern edge of Milan. Former Mecenate police station assistant chief Carmelo Cinturrino, 41, shot him once in the head from approximately 30 metres during what was described as an anti-drug patrol.

Cinturrino has claimed self-defence, saying Mansouri bent down and then stood up suddenly, frightening him. But the Milan review court rejected that version, noting the persistence of his murderous will. The entry wound, according to the mobile squad's reconstruction, suggests the victim was neither holding a weapon nor attempting to flee at the moment the shot was fired.

Threats and extortion

According to the investigation, which relied on ballistic tests, a 3-D reconstruction, technical analyses and dozens of witness statements, Cinturrino had repeatedly threatened Mansouri. Witnesses reported him saying "either I arrest you or I kill you" and telling others to pass on the message that if he caught Zack he would kill him. He allegedly demanded 200 euros and 5 grams of cocaine a day from Mansouri to allow him to operate on the drug square, but Mansouri refused.

An eyewitness described the seconds before the shooting: Mansouri picked up a stone to scare, turned left to flee into the woods and took two steps, then the shot rang out and he fell immediately. After the killing, Cinturrino placed a replica pistol loaded with blanks next to the body, a staging that a colleague had fetched from the station. He also delayed the arrival of medical help and pressured other officers.

Two branches of investigation

Prosecutor Marcello Viola and public prosecutor Giovanni Tarzia are running two parallel cases. The first, for which immediate trial has been requested, charges Cinturrino with premeditated murder, aggravated by violation of his public duties. He has been in prison since 23 February and was formally dismissed from the police at the end of June. If convicted in the Court of Assizes, he faces a life sentence.

The second branch remains under investigation by the mobile squad. Cinturrino and six other officers from the Mecenate station face more than 30 charges, including drug trafficking, extortion and illegal arrests. In total, 43 counts have been filed, with witnesses alleging during a preliminary evidentiary hearing that Cinturrino alone took up to 4,000 euros a day in cash and drugs from the area.

Defence and reaction

Cinturrino, represented by lawyers Marco Bianucci and Davide Giuseppe Giugno, denies intentional killing.

He bent down and got up, at that moment I got scared. Mansouri hadn't done anything personal to me.

The family of Abderrahim Mansouri, assisted by lawyers Debora Piazza and Marco Romagnoli, welcomed the prosecution's move to separate the murder case from the broader corruption charges.

We are pleased and satisfied. The prosecutor's office has done excellent work and we fully agree with the charge of premeditated murder. The fact that the rest remains under investigation means the prosecutor wants to get to the bottom of things, in search of the truth. We will face the trial with all the preparation, calm and composure that the case requires.

The investigating judge is expected to rule on the immediate trial request in the coming days. The full corruption case involving the other six officers remains open.