Pupetta Maresca
Encyclopedia
Assunta Maresca better known as known as Pupetta (Little Doll) was a former beauty queen who became a well-known figure in the Camorra
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...

. She made the international newspaper headlines in the mid-1950s when she killed the murderer of her husband in revenge.

Early life

She was the daughter of Vincenzo Maresca, a Camorrista
Camorra
The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...

 who controlled their hometown Castellamare di Stabia, south of Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

. The family was known as the Lampetielli, the lightning knives, for their expert use of switchblade
Switchblade
A switchblade is a type of knife with a folding or sliding blade contained in the handle which is opened automatically by a spring when a button, lever, or switch on the handle or bolster is activated A switchblade (also known as an automatic knife, pushbutton knife, switch, Sprenger, Springer,...

s and made their money in contraband cigarettes. She was the only girl in a family of four brothers. Tiny but pretty and spoilt, she was nicknamed Pupetta (Little Doll). At the age of 19, she won a beauty contest and became Miss Rovegliano, a suburban village of Naples.

She was courted by a wealthy and powerful local guappo
Guappo
Guappo is a word in Neapolitan dialect, meaning thug, bully, braggart, camorrista. It is often used to indicate a member of the Camorra, a Mafia-type organisation in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy.-Etymology:...

, or Camorra boss, from Palma Campania
Palma Campania
Palma Campania, known until 1863 as Palma di Nola, is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 25 km east of Naples....

, Pasquale Simonetti, known as Pasquale 'e Nola, who worked in the fruit and vegetable market in Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 and dealt in smuggled goods. On April 27, 1955, they married.

Revenge killing

Simonetti’s style and power bothered other Camorristi, and one day in 1955 he was shot by Gaetano Orlando, a hitman commissioned by his rival Antonio Esposito, another Camorrista. The six months pregnant Pupetta was devastated. She believed the police knew who the perpetrator was but were not prepared to do anything about it. On August 4, 1955, she drove to Naples with her younger brother, Ciro. When they met Esposito, she reached into her handbag and pulled out a Smith & Wesson .38
.38 Special
The .38 Smith & Wesson Special is a rimmed, centerfire cartridge designed by Smith & Wesson. It is most commonly used in revolvers, although some semi-automatic pistols and carbines also use this round...

. Holding it with both hands ("I was afraid I would miss," she explained later), she opened fire and killed Esposito in broad daylight.

On October 14, 1955, she was arrested. The trial started in April 1959 at the Court of Assizes in Naples. The killing and the following trial made international headlines. At the trial, she defiantly declared: "I would do it again!" and the whole courtroom burst into cheers.

One newspaper called her "The Diva of Crime" and for the first time in history the Court in Naples permitted microphones to be used so that the crowds could hear what was going on. Proposals of marriage flooded in and one musician was composing a song in Pupetta's honour called La legge d'onore – the Law of Honour. Nevertheless, she was sentenced to 18 years’ imprisonment, later reduced to 13 years and 4 months by the Court of Appeal.

Madame Camorra

Pupetta Maresca gave birth to her first child in prison. She was pardoned in 1965, but "Madame Camorra" as she was dubbed, continued to be involved in criminal activities. She became the lover of yet another Camorra boss, the drug baron Umberto Ammaturo
Umberto Ammaturo
Umberto Ammaturo is an Italian criminal and a member of the Neapolitan Camorra. He specialized in cocaine trafficking from South America. He was included in the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy until his capture in May 1993...

, and gave birth to twins. She supported his criminal business. In 1974, when her son was 18 he was abducted and murdered. His death remains a mystery, but she believes the assailant was Ammaturo – who denied knowing anything about his death.

Their separation in 1982 did not mean the end of Pupetta’s Camorra activities. In February 1982, during the war between the Nuova Camorra Organizzata
Nuova Camorra Organizzata
The Nuova Camorra Organizzata was an Italian Camorra criminal organization founded in the late 1970s by a Neapolitan Camorrista, Raffaele Cutolo, in the region of Campania. It was also known by the initials NCO...

 (NCO) and the Nuova Famiglia
Nuova Famiglia
The Nuova Famiglia was an Italian Camorra criminal organization created in the 1980s to face Raffaele Cutolo's Nuova Camorra Organizzata....

 (NF), she made an appearance to defend her men at a press conference in which she publicly defied the ruthless Camorra boss Raffaele Cutolo
Raffaele Cutolo
Raffaele Cutolo is an Italian crime boss and the charismatic leader of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata , an organisation he built to renew the Camorra. Cutolo has a variety of nicknames including "'o Vangelo" , "'o Principe" , "'o Professore" and "'o Monaco"...

, the head of the NCO. Cutolo had imposed a ‘tax’ on every case of smuggled cigarettes and the Maresca’s resisted. In 1978 Ciro, Pupetta’s favourite brother, was shot. He survived but while in prison in 1982, Cutolo’s men threatened him again.

Later in 1982, she was arrested with Ammaturo for the murder of forensic scientist Aldo Semerari
Aldo Semerari
Aldo Semerari was an Italian criminologist, psychiatrist and political diplomat of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.-Background:...

, and extortion, crimes she still denies. However, Ammaturo who was initially accquited, later confessed to the murder after becoming a pentito
Pentito
Pentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...

 on June 1993.Pupetta Maresca served four years in prison and now lives alone in Sorrento
Sorrento
Sorrento is the name of many cities and towns:*Sorrento, Italy*Sorrento, Florida, United States*Sorrento, Louisiana, United States*Sorrento, Maine, United States*Sorrento, Victoria, a township on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia...

.

In popular culture

Pupetta Maresca’s life has been the subject of several films:
  • La sfida
    La sfida
    La sfida is a 1958 Italian film by Francesco Rosi. It stars José Suárez as a gang leader who challenges a local Camorra boss for supremacy...

    (The Challenge) (1958), by Francesco Rosi
    Francesco Rosi
    Francesco Rosi is an Italian film director. He is the father of actress Carolina Rosi.-Biography:After studying Law, but hoping to study film, Rosi entered the industry as an assistant to Luchino Visconti on La Terra trema...

    , based on the story of Pascalone and Pupetta Maresca, with Rosanna Schiaffino
    Rosanna Schiaffino
    Rosanna Schiaffino was an Italian film actress. She appeared on the covers of Italian, German, French, British and American magazines.-Early life:...

     as Maresca
  • Il caso Pupetta Maresca (1982) (TV film), with Alessandra Mussolini
    Alessandra Mussolini
    Alessandra Mussolini is an Italian politician, the granddaughter of Benito Mussolini, and previously an actress and model...

     as Pupetta Maresca. Maresca did not agree with the film and was able to prevent its broadcast. Only 12 years later, in 1994, the film was screened on Rai Tre
    Rai Tre
    Rai 3 is part of RAI, the Italian government broadcasting agency, which owns other channels, such as Rai 1 and Rai 2 . Rai 3 first started transmissions on December 15, 1979. In the eighties it was under the predominant political influence of the Italian Communist Party...

    .

External links

"Pascalone 'e Nola" Pupetta 50 anni dopo svende tutto a 10 euro, La Repubblica, August 2, 2005 Die Artischocken-Diktatur, Der Spiegel, May 27, 1959
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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