The Chico Forti case: the return to Italy after twenty-four years of prison in the United States

For American justice, Chico Forti he should have died in an American prison, where he had been for twenty-four years, convicted of the murder of Australian entrepreneur Dale Pike. Today the announcement of his return to Italy.

The accusation and the trial

A burden weighed on the 65-year-old from Trentino life sentence for the 1998 case: with Dale Pike Chico Forti was closing a deal, and had met him – to accompany him from the airport to the hotel – shortly before the Australian entrepreneur was found dead on a Miami beach.

During the interrogation – which took place without the presence of a lawyer, and therefore technically unusable in court – Chico Forti had lied, claiming he hadn't seen Pikeand from there the suspicions about him began.

Shadows over the irregularities of his trial, over a possible conflict of interest on the part of his lawyer, over the evidence collected and poorly documented and over the role of a German fraudster, however, have always accompanied these years of Chico's detention, which he has always proclaimed himself innocent.

Chico Forti grew up in Trento, from a very young age on Lake Garda he became a windsurfing champion in 1985, he was the first Italian to participate in the World Cup (he was also one of the first in the world to make the board complete a full turn after the jump ). After sport he dedicated himself to video production, with a specialization in extreme sports.

Then the leap: Chico Forti realizes his dream of going to America, leaves his wife, marries a model with whom he has three children and changes his life. Everything seems to be working until 1998 and the meeting with Anthony Pike. The man is an entrepreneur with whom Chico makes an agreement for the sale of Pikes Hotel in Ibiza. When Anthony's son, Dale Pike, notices that his father, suffering from senile dementia, is selling at rock-bottom prices, reports Chico for fraud, a charge from which he is subsequently cleared. On February 15, 1998, Dale Pike's body was found on the beach of Virginia Key, Miami.

The return to Italy

Many have dealt with his case, from Hyenas to politics: in particular Giorgia Meloni had supported Chico Forti's transfer to Italy since he was in opposition.

Today, with a video from the United States, where he is on a diplomatic trip to meet President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced that he had reached an agreement for the return of Chico Forti to his homeland.

«After 24 years of detention in the United States, the authorization to transfer to Italy was signed Chico Forti, a result that is the result of the diplomatic commitment of this government and the collaboration with the State of Florida and the United States government”, said Meloni, thanking the American authorities. «It is a day of joy for Chico, for his family and not for everyone. We promised it and we did it and now we are waiting for it in Italy.”