Ballerina who stabbed husband to death walks free

GENOA – A judge in Genoa has acquitted Brazilian ballerina Alessia Mendes of murdering her husband, whom she stabbed 12 times, on the grounds of self-defence.

 A Genoese court heard that Mendes had endured years of abuse at the hands of Alessio Rossi and eventually, in a confrontation in October 2017, took a kitchen knife and stabbed Rossi to death at their home in the Campasso quarter of Genoa.

 Mendes then threatened to kill herself, before police workers were able to restrain her and take her into custody, where she remained for the duration of the investigation and subsequent trial.

 Before his death, Rossi had been investigated twice for abusing and injuring his wife. One case was thrown out by a judge, but the second was ongoing at the time of his murder.

 In a comment about the ruling, defence attorney Rachele De Stefanis said that “Bloodstain Pattern Analysis (BPA) was fundamental” in this case, as they were able to “reconstruct the crime scene with the help of blood traces.” This evidence was key in demonstrating that an act of self-defence was carried out by Mendes.

 Genoa District Attorney Francesco Cozzi said it was “very likely” that the prosecution would appeal the judge’s verdict, adding that they would have to “evaluate whether the circumstances are extreme enough for self-defence to apply.”

 Although acquitted, Mendes will remain in prison for another three weeks. Before the homicide, drugs had been found in her possession, for which she received a sentence during her murder trial.

PM