A SICILIAN OUTRAGE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 318, 8 January 1909, Page 4

A SICILIAN OUTRAGE.

At the l'alluero Assizes on All"ust -jtli I says the ililan correspondent of the Daily Uironicle), severe sentences were passed on four emissaries of the llalia who were concerned on Octob-r ■il-t las, i„ kidnapping the two elder daughters uf Signer Zocclii, „ wellknown dairy proprietor resident in the •Sicilian capital. The young ladies in question, whose ages arc 17 and IS, were enjoying an evening walk with their ""'U'er and .sisters, when they were seized upon by eight men and driven oil' in a couple of carriages in wait round the corner. The girls wove gagged Willi their own shawls to stide their screams. The mother and little ones were aide to identify among the kidnappers two brother, named Killed, who were assisted bv an old uncle name,l Stc.t'ano. It appeared that shortly alter settling in I'ahuero from Viccnza Signor Zi.cehi had lent these brothers Clou to build a house. As associates ol the Maliii, which mostlv preys upon unwary non-Sicilians, these nieu h.ul jiot only showed no intention of repaying Signor /ocelli, but began n policy of extortion, finishing up with a in 1 I r both daughters with L'liOO dowry apiece. Signor Zocchi bluntly refused, and thcreu|iou the brothers conceived' lo compel tile father to conic to terms. When, on the day following the kidnapping. carabiuieri tracked the gnug lo a country house rented by I lie ilillcei-. they had to break down live doors before tllcy could rescue the captive girl-, who were discovered in a heartrending condition. (In refusing enticing viands spread out on an artistically decorated -upper table in an upper I chamber, ami „lso the blandishments of their cantor,, the sisters had been horribly assaulted by the brothers and uncle while the rest uf |||,. conspirators feasting below, sung songs lo drown the victims' cries. A stubborn struggle had taken place, the supper board was overturned, and tile, room strewn with wreckage. The guilty brothers were arrested in a hiding place on the roof, half dead, with ugly wounds dealt them with champagne bottles by their victims. Thi nigh the accomplices of Unhand had llnwn, Stefano and one other were afterwards caught. This revolting outrage met with fitting punishment ill the apportionment of a total of ninety-one years' Imprisonment. A minor accomplice got eight years, the younger brother, Domenico. twenty-live, and tliiisepp! Milleci twonte. eight years' solitary confinement, y. nil'e the. wicked old Stefano wa> djou'ed to the galleys fur thirty yc.ws. Jhe and jurymen received a Tremendous ovation from thousands of citizens awaitim.' verdict, and. while the itrisoncy, were being removed to g iW( t|,„ v narrowly escaped 'being lvnclied bv tiie angry populace.