Fifteen people were tried by the Bouches-du-Rhône Assize Court for the murder of two members of the Corsican bandit in December 2017. Two of them were acquitted.
The “mastermind” of the assassination of two members of the Corsican banditry in 2017 in Bastia-Poretta was sentenced this Friday, June 28, to 30 years in prison and a “guard” to 23 years, at the end of a trial where the main accused refused to appear.
For the attorneys general, “everything leads back” to Christophe Guazzelli, presented as the “mastermind”, “the executor”, “the organizer”, “the soul of this criminal project” who will lead his brother Richard to avenge their father Francis, assassinated in 2009, they had decided by requesting life imprisonment against him.
On December 5, 2017, at around 11:20 a.m., Jean-Luc Codaccioni and Antoine Quilichini, two members of the Corsican banditry, were the targets of gunfire in the parking lot of Bastia airport. Antoine Quilichini was killed instantly. Jean-Luc Codaccioni, an inmate of the Borgo prison returning from leave in Paris, died seven days later.
Seven years later, 13 of the 15 accused were found guilty by the Bouches-du-Rhône Assize Court. Two were acquitted, Joseph Menconi and François Marchioni, against whom the attorneys general had requested six years in prison and 15 years of criminal imprisonment.
Defenseless accused
Sentences ranging from three years in prison – one of which was suspended – to 30 years in prison with 20 years of security were handed down in this trial. In a very rare occurrence, the main accused had refused to appear and had challenged their lawyers, thus having no defence.
Cathy Châtelain, divorced Sénéchal, a prison guard at the Corsican prison of Borgo, who admitted her participation in these assassinations, was sentenced to 23 years of criminal imprisonment.
The one whose story inspired the film Borgoreleased last April, is also subject to a permanent ban on working in the public sector – which made him smile -, socio-judicial monitoring for five years and a ten-year ban on staying in Corsica, just like the main protagonists for this last sentence.
Present in the dock to hear the verdict after weeks of refusing to appear, she was allowed by the president to embrace one of her daughters, whom she had not seen for several years.
Against Richard Guazzelli, presented as “the driver” on the day of the events, a sentence of 25 years of criminal imprisonment including 16 years of security was pronounced.
Jacques Mariani, who was behind bars at the time of the events and has already spent more than 38 years in detention, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His lawyers have already announced that they will appeal. Ange-Marie Michelosi, accused of having “solicited” the “guard”, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, including 15 years of security.
“Reviving” the “Sea Breeze”
According to the prosecution, the objective of the Guazzelli brothers, Ange-Marie Michelosi and Jacques Mariani was to avenge the deaths of their fathers, founders of the “Brise de Mer” or members of the banditry of Corsica-du-Sud, whose deaths are all attributable to the opposing clan today led by Jean-Luc Germani.
They would also have wanted to “revive” the “Sea Breeze”, this historic criminal gang. This scenario is based on the prowess of the investigators who managed to decipher “phones deemed to be inviolable” and the “crucial” messages they contained and which shed light on the “role played by each in the accomplishment of the overall criminal project”.
They also allegedly wanted to “revive” the “Sea Breeze”, this historic criminal gang. This scenario is based on the prowess of the investigators who managed to decrypt “phones considered to be unhackable” and the “crucial” messages they contained and which shed light on the “role played by each in the accomplishment of the overall criminal project”.
“I brought down two godfathers,” claimed Christophe Guazzelli in one of these messages deciphered by investigators.
In a cryptic exchange with Jacques Mariani, Christophe Guazzelli explains having shot “in the head” of one of the two, before asserting: “I restored all its power to the breeze…”, “take the things in hand, I gave you strength” (sic).
“You are my idol”, “avenged everyone at once”, replies Jacques Mariani, assuring in another message: “we are at war and we will win”. A vendetta that does not seem to be over. Since this double assassination, at least five relatives of the accused have died violent deaths.
