Federico Salpietro, son of the Italian couple who passed away after the fatal maritime accident caused by Tomislav Horvatinčić in August 2011, reached out to TCN to share his official statement before the final verdict is passed tomorrow, October 13. According to Salpietro, Horvatinčić has been openly lying in court.

Tomislav Horvatinčić, the Croatian businessman who is currently on trial for causing the maritime accident that led to the death of an Italian married couple in 2011, attended his final hearing at the Municipal Court in Šibenik earlier today, October 12, 2017. The court will issue a final verdict regarding the case on Friday, October 13.

According to Jutarnji, prosecutor Irena Senečić asked for Horvatinčić to be sentenced to prison, stating he committed a criminal offence of causing a fatal accident by oblique intent. Horvatinčić claimed that he experienced a loss of consciousness at the moment when the accident occurred. During the formal investigation procedure, he first claimed that his yacht suffered a mechanical mishap, only to later change his original statement and cite a case of syncope, a sudden and short-term loss of consciousness. As stated by the prosecutor, even the court-appointed expert witnesses haven't been able to prove Horvatinčić experienced syncope at the exact moment of the impact.

At the hearing, Horvatinčić again claimed he experienced a blackout seconds before his yacht crashed into the sailboat operated by the Italian couple, Francesco and Marinella Salpietro. "I want to express my condolences and regret to the children of the deceased. I've tried to alleviate the consequences of this unfortunate event multiple times by offering financial compensation to the family, but it hasn't come to that yet. I remain ready to negotiate a compensation deal with a representative of the family and the insurance company", Horvatinčić said.

Earlier today, TCN received a statement from Federico Salpietro, son of the Italian couple who passed away due to injuries inflicted in the accident. According to Mr Salpietro, Horvatinčić is openly lying in court - neither Federico nor his sister ever received any kind of compensation offer from Horvatinčić or his legal representatives.

"In regards to this topic, I can officially state that he never (NEVER!) concretely offered any amount of money. He has my IBAN (bank account number) since last April and in the past he was told by my lawyers to concretely offer a sum of money. He NEVER did it. If he has the documents to prove this, I am completely at disposal to have a look. But I can tell you that he doesn't have anything because he never did anything concretely", wrote Mr Salpietro.

He also expressed his concern about the potential negative effect that a verdict in Horvatinčić's favour might have on future cases of this kind. If the syncope argument ends up leading to a favourable outcome for the accused, we might be headed for a slippery slope:

"(...) Mr. Horvatincic and his lawyers' statements in regards to the 'syncope' could be dangerous, as everyone who makes a mistake/accident in the future could say that it was due to a 'syncope'. I don't think this is acceptable for anyone who wants to live in a safe country and I hope this will be confirmed by the final verdict", stated Mr Salpietro, adding that the whole trial only served to show how unreliable a person Horvatinčić is. "In regards to the trial, I can say that this unreliability of Horvatincic, demonstrated also speaking about other provable facts (like the fact he did a sketch of the accident immediately after, the fact that he declared all the boat systems were broken and he tried to advise my parents with the movement of his hands, the fact that he said at the court that he never asked me and my sister some money, while there is an official document proving he asked us nearly 240.000€), should bring everybody to the clear conclusion that he is a man who made a mistake, who killed our parents ruining our life forever and who doesn't want to admit it, saying only lies to try to save himself", he wrote.

It's been six years since the accident. Considering the trial dragged on for years, the psychological and emotional turmoil Federico and his sister must have gone through is unimaginable. Horvatinčić, on the other hand, plans to buy a new yacht.

"Mr. Horvatincic has to be a real man and he has to take responsibility for the tremendous mistake he has done", concluded Federico at the end of his letter. As Horvatinčić hasn't yet shown any convincing remorse, instead blaming the media for all his troubles and his poor public image, it's safe to say we won't witness him taking responsibility any time soon. We can only hope for the justice system to be on the right side for once - if not for anything else, then for the sake of Salpietro siblings. They will never get their parents back, but a righteous verdict might provide them with some long-deserved peace of mind.

Update: According to Index, Tomo Horvatinčić was pronounced not guilty for murder by oblique intent at the Municipal Court in Šibenik on Friday, October 13. He was cleared of all charges and released.

Photo credit: Slobodna Dalmacija