Killing of baby prompts outrage, death penalty calls

PROSECUTORS in the slaying of a toddler that has horrified Italians said yesterday investigators had believed until the bitter end that the boy might be alive and said his death constituted a “moral defeat”.

The killing of 17-month-old Tommaso Onofri apparently because he was crying too much haunted the nation and prompted some politicians and citizens to call for the death penalty.

For a month, Italians had hoped for the safe return of curly-haired Tommaso, snatched from his home on March 2. Hopes were crushed when his body was discovered late Saturday.