An assault triggered by the refusal to hand over two euros in alms is now at the center of a trial for aggravated murder. The Rimini Public Prosecutor’s Office has reclassified the charge against the 29-year-old defendant, concluding that the death of Sanzio Montori, the 88-year-old from Santarcangelo who died on 16 January, was a direct consequence of the extremely serious injuries he suffered during the attack on 9 August 2025.
The first court hearing is set for 23 September, when the preliminary hearing will take place before judge Alessandro Capodimonte. The defendant, currently held in a Rems (a residential facility for offenders requiring psychiatric care), will have to answer the charge brought by prosecutors.
According to investigators’ account, the young man reacted with extreme violence after the elderly man refused to give him two euros. The 88-year-old was allegedly knocked to the ground, kicked and punched, and then struck repeatedly with a large pair of scissors, suffering extremely severe injuries.
Montori never recovered from that day. After months spent between hospital admissions, surgical operations and a subsequent transfer to a care facility, he died on 16 January.
The shift in the charge came after a forensic medical assessment ordered by the Public Prosecutor’s Office identified a causal link between the assault and the elderly man’s death. It will now be up to the trial to determine whether this account is confirmed.
The victim’s daughter has joined the proceedings as a civil party, represented by lawyer Maurizio Ghinelli.
