Overview

• Aldo Panarello, a general practitioner and former mayor, was assaulted Thursday morning inside his private studio in Saponara.
• He was punched repeatedly, suffered fractures to the shoulder and jaw, and was admitted to the Policlinico di Messina for maxillofacial surgery.
• Carabinieri opened an investigation, are examining surveillance video in the area, and are searching for an assailant who fled wearing a cap with a lowered visor.
• Saponara mayor Giuseppe Merlino condemned the attack and voiced solidarity with Panarello’s family.
• The same clinic was the site of the 1995 shooting of Dr. Vittorio Meli, Panarello’s father-in-law, a killing to which a patient later confessed and handed over the weapon.