Italians to excavate tomb linked to Vatican mystery

It is not clear whether they expect to find Orlandi’s remains in the tomb or
documents that could shed light on her disappearance.

There were raised eyebrows when despite his criminal past church officials
allowed De Pedis to be buried in the crypt of Sant’Apollinare.

At the time it was said the burial was given the go ahead because De Pedis had “repented
while in jail and also done a lot of work for charity,” including large
donations to the Catholic Church.

De Pedis, whose name on the the £12,000 tomb is spelt in diamonds, was buried
in Sant’Apollinare church after he was gunned down in 1990 in the city’s
famous Campo De Fiori, a popular destination for tourists.

He and his gang controlled the lucrative drug market in Rome and were also
rumoured to have a “free hand” because of their links with police
and Italian secret service agents.

Twelve years ago a skull was found in the confessional box of a Rome church
and tests were carried out on it to see if it was Orlandi after a mystery
tip off but they proved negative.

In 2008 Sabrina Minardi, De Pedis girlfriend at the time of Orlandi’s
disappearance, sensationally claimed that now dead American monsignor Paul
Marcinkus, the controversial chief of the Vatican bank, was behind the
kidnap.

Monsignor Marcinkus used his status to avoid being questioned by police in the
early 1980’s probing the collapse of a Banco Ambrosiano which the Vatican
had invested heavily in.

The collapse was linked to the murder of Roberto Calvi dubbed God’s Banker
because of the Vatican links and his body was found hanging under
Blackfriars Bridge in London in June 1982.

His pockets filled with cash and stones and it was originally recorded as a
suicide but police believe he was murdered by the Mafia after a bungled
money laundering operation.

At the same time as Minardi made her claim a mystery caller to a missing
person’s programme on Italian TV said the riddle of Orlandi’s kidnap would
be solved “if De Pedis tomb was opened.”

Following Minardi claims the Vatican took the unusual step of speaking
publicly and dismissed her claims about American Monsignor Marcinkus, who
died in Arizona four years ago.

Also present this morning was Emanuela Orlandi’s brother Pietro, who in the
past has accused the vatican of not co-operating fully with the police and
prosecutors.

He said:”This is a step forward in the investigation and I hope it leads
to further transparency and collabartion. The opening of the tomb is not a
arrival point but a departure point.”

Officials said that the body once exhumed would be taken by undertakers to the
mortuary at La Sapienza university in Rome where DNA tests would be carried
out.

Sant Apollinare is a 7th Century church, which stands close to the site of the
Roman baths built by the Emperor Nero – in another connection with Dan Brown
it is used by Opus Dei the secret sect mentioned in the Da Vinci Code.

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