Italian socialite who, in 1972, married Maurizio Gucci, the grandson of the founder of the Gucci fashion dynasty. They separated in 1987 and divorced in 1992. During that year, Patrizia had a brain tumor removed. When her ex-husband was murdered in Milan, 3/27/1995, their two daughters, Alessandra, 18 and Allegra, 14, stood to inherit his $150 million fortune.
As a suspect in Gucci’s murder, Patrizia acknowledged that she had often voiced her desire to have him killed, even that she had to do it with her own two hands, but she defended herself that it was nothing more than a harmless obsession. At her trial, which began in May 1998, the prosecutor Carlo Nocerino argued that Patrizia had engaged her longtime confidante, Pina Auriemma to hire a hit man. The trial riveted Italy with its tales of scheming, ineptitude and greed among the glitterati of Italian society.
During their eight-year marriage, Maurizio supported his family well enough. In 1985 Maurizio abruptly dumped Patrizia, packing his bags and leaving one day with no preliminary warning. They agreed that she would receive $150,000 a month to cover expenses, but, Patrizia complained, on some months he only came up with $90,000 or less, “the bones, but not the chicken.” Having to worry about money was not commensurate with her social position, plus she fretted over the loss of the family yacht.
By 1993, the Gucci family drama had escalated toward major financial problems and the company sold out to Investcorp. Moreover, Maurizio was rumored to be about to marry his longtime girlfriend, decorator Paolo Franchi, a union which could throw a further dark cloud over the inheritance of Allesandra and Allegra. A mother must protect the welfare of her children.
When Gucci was gunned down, Patrizia said she was shocked but not grieved. She further said that when her friend, Auriemma, told her that the killing had been arranged by people who wanted $300,000, she was glad to pay the fee to have her life made less complicated. However, Auriemma, also on trial, said that the fee was paid for the arranged hit, for which she found Ivano Savioni, 42, a hotel porter, to commission a hit-man. Savioni in turn allegedly hired Benedetto Ceraulo, 39, a car-parts dealer. Ceraulo denied the accusation.
Patrizia was arrested on 1/31/1997 at 5:00 AM in her 18th-century penthouse in Milan for the murder of her ex-husband. She was charged with paying four people, including her psychic, $375,000 to kill Maurizio. Considering the evidence, many wondered why it took the police two years to arrest her. Last November a former babysitter told investigators that as early as 1990, Patrizia had “asked me several times if my boyfriend and I could find a killer for hire.” Her divorce lawyer admitted that she had asked him twice about the legal consequences of having Maurizio killed.
In November 1997, police had a tip that a hotel porter, Ivano Savioni, had bragged about orchestrating the hit, and was trying to get more money out of Patrizia. The police put a tap on Savioni, getting the evidence to insure an arrest of the four conspirators.
Convicted, the erstwhile glamorous Patrizia was sentenced to prison for murder in 1997.
Link to Wikipedia biography