MACERETA – On Thursday, investigative judge Giovanni Maria Manzoni dropped charges against two Nigerians held in custory for their alleged involvement in the murder of 18-year-old Pamela Mastropietro, officials say.

 The young girl from Rome was killed and dismembered on Jan 30 in Macereta by 29-year-old Innocent Oseghale, who is now being held in the prison of Ascoli Piceno.

 The other two men, Lucky Awelima and Desmond Lucky, were initially accused of being accomplices in the murder; however, after further investigation, police have determined that they weren’t present at the apartment where the teenager was brutally killed.

 Although murder charges have been dropped, Awelima and Desmond are still being held in the prison of Ancona for selling heroin.

 The court of Ancona has also dropped charges of rape against Innocent Oseghale after failing to find evidence of sexual violence against the girl. However, he remains in jail for murder, vilification, dismembering the corpse and drug dealing.

 Prosecutor Giovanni Giorgio still maintains that the murder happened in the context of rape; the fact that Pamela's body was cut into pieces and found inside two abandoned suitcases in Pollenza confirms that he tried to erase any signs of sexual violence, he says.

 However, judges at the court of Ancona say that the accused Nigerian panicked after Pamela reacted badly to the heroin he'd given her.

 The day before she was killed, Pamela had voluntarily left a drug rehab in Corridonia, where she’d been hospitalized for four months.

 "We continue to have strong doubts on the matter", commented Pamela’s uncle, lawyer Marco Valerio Verni.

 Pamela's family has always maintained that the girl had fallen prey to her torturers while she was in a fragile condition, not helped by the many drugs she was taking for treatment purposes.

 All three suspects remain in custody awaiting formal trial.

 fct