“It’s over. I’m spending these last few minutes with my family before turning myself in. I must accept that the judges in Rome have sentenced me to 14 years and nine months, as in the previous rulings. So they wanted to give me a life sentence.”

Seventy-two years old, Mario Roggero has spent a lifetime behind the counter of a jewelry store in Grinzane Cavour, near Cuneo. Wearing a green polo shirt and sitting in his car as if to underscore that he is about to leave, he delivered what amounted to his judicial farewell on Instagram after Italy’s Supreme Court rejected his appeal Thursday, upholding his conviction on two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

Roggero was convicted of shooting two fleeing robbers dead in the street, described in court documents as a kind of Wild West “vigilante,” and wounding a third. He shot them with a .38 Special as they tried to escape in a three-door Ford Fiesta on the evening of April 28, 2021. Although prosecutors were expected to issue the order for his imprisonment later Thursday, he decided to turn himself in voluntarily at the prison in Fossano, where he would await the completion of the necessary formalities.

“We’re disappointed. We had hoped for a better outcome. At this point, all we can do is wait for the court’s reasoning and prepare to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights,” said Roggero’s attorneys, Stefano Marcolini and Sergio Novani.

Beyond the legal strategies to come, the Supreme Court’s final ruling has triggered a wave of reactions, building on a campaign of support for Roggero on television and radio and from activists with Futuro Nazionale, the League and Brothers of Italy. The jeweler himself has also played a prominent role, becoming something of an influencer by telling his story on social media.

Roberto Vannacci, an Italian far-right politician and retired Army general, has expressed his support, joining an initiative by some of his supporters who held a demonstration outside the Supreme Court on Wednesday, carrying banners reading “Super Mario” and “I Stand With Roggero.”

Others are looking to the Quirinal Palace. Matteo Salvini has appealed to the President of Italy for a pardon: “For Mario, now, together with so many of you, I will do everything possible to see that he is granted a pardon.” He added: “I consider this conviction unjust. We fought together for a new self-defense law, which spared many decent citizens suffering and prison, but clearly that is not enough. We need to expand even further the sacred right to self-defense of those who are attacked. And we will.”

Forza Italia Sen. Maurizio Gasparri also entered the debate: “I express my bitterness and dismay at the confirmation of a harsh sentence for Mario Roggero, who defended himself against an attack by criminal robbers. It overturns the fundamental principles of justice.”

In his farewell message on Instagram, where he has about 80,000 followers, Roggero thanked his supporters for standing by him and for the financial contributions raised through an online fundraiser. In addition to his criminal sentence, he faces a multimillion-euro civil judgment, with €480,000 already set as provisional compensation in the two lower-court rulings.

“Now,” he said, “I have to pass the baton to you to keep fighting for a law that truly stands against injustice and the ever-growing scourge of crime. A big hug to all of you. You will be my voice.”

The other side of the story has three names: Giuseppe Mazzarino, Andrea Spinelli and Alessandro Modica—the three robbers who that day borrowed a Ford Fiesta and set out to carry out the robbery with a fake Glock. The first two were killed in the street. The third was wounded.

“This case demonstrates the importance of having an independent judiciary in our country, autonomous from every other branch of power, capable of reaffirming a principle that must continue to define our democracy. Every human life is a fundamental good and is protected by law,” said attorneys Marino Careglio and Flavio Campagna, representing the family of Andrea Spinelli as civil plaintiffs.

— © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED