Italian singer's body exhumed 39 years after death
deb...@comcast.net
ET
ROME (Reuters) - The remains of Luigi Tenco, a popular Italian singer
who killed himself in 1967 after losing a song contest, were exhumed on
Wednesday as magistrates vowed to shed light on one of the country's
longest-running mysteries.
Tenco, one of Italy's most famous modern singers, was found dead in his
hotel room with a single gunshot wound to the head on January 27, 1967,
hours after learning that his song had been eliminated from the
national Sanremo song competition.
He was only 29 but had already made his name as a headstrong protest
singer whose songs were often censored by state broadcaster RAI.
A hand-written note found near the body said his suicide was a gesture
of protest against the jury and members of the public who had voted for
another song to be in the final.
Yet doubts over his death have lingered for almost 40 years as no
autopsy was carried out at the time and, although a pistol was found in
the hotel room, the bullet that killed Tenco was not.
In 2003, an investigation by three journalists highlighted the
inconsistencies in the case and called for prosecutors to reopen their
probe and consider the possibility of murder.
Mariano Gagliano, the Sanremo magistrate who ordered the exhumation,
has said he still thinks Tenco killed himself but wants to get to the
bottom of what happened that night once and for all.
"We want to clear the fog and the doubts surrounding a mystery that has
shaken the world of Italian music," he said when he announced the
reopening of the case last December.
robertc...@yahoo.com
deb...@comcast.net wrote:
> Italian singer's body exhumed 39 years after death Wed Feb 15, 10:51 AM
> ET
>
>
>
> ROME (Reuters) - The remains of Luigi Tenco, a popular Italian singer
> who killed himself in 1967 after losing a song contest, were exhumed on
> Wednesday as magistrates vowed to shed light on one of the country's
> longest-running mysteries.
>
Interesting story. Although it has more to do with singing songs than
writing them, I'm surprised that we haven't heard anything about
contestants on "American Idol" committing suicide. Of course, it could
be argued that some of them _should_ commit suicide.