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Italian media reported the strange case of two inmates who managed to
escape from Rebibbia prison and left behind a letter explaining their
reason for escaping and promising to be back soon.
On the night of June 2nd, Davad Zukanovic, 40 and Lil Ahmetovic, 46, two
cousins serving time at Rome’s Rebibbia prison, managed to escape by
cutting through the bars on their prison cell window, rappelling down
into the courtyard on a fire hydrant water hose and climbing over the
outer walls by climbing the barbed wire with a wire cutter. This alone
was a feat worthy of a Hollywood movie, but what really made their
escape stand out was the note they left in their prison cell, explaining
that they had an urgent family problem to take care of and promising to
be back in 15 days.
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In their letter to the prison staff, Zukanovic and Ahmetovic claim that
they had to escape in order to “protect their children from a nasty
business they had got themselves into,” adding that they were the only
ones able to do this, since both their wives are also behind bars. At
the end, a couple of lines read that the two plan to return and stand
before the judicial authority as soon as their personal matter was
resolved.
Italian police have no doubts about the authenticity of the letter,
since it was found in the cell they had escaped from and had their
fingerprints on it, but they are having trouble believing the promise of
the two fugitives, which is why they’ve been trying to track them down
and cut their little adventure short.
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Zukanovic and Ahmetovic were serving sentences due to end in 2029 for
non-violent crimes, including fraud and receiving stolen goods. Even if
they respect the promise made in their letter, they are still facing a
5-year sentence extension for escaping the prison. That only makes their
voluntary return even more unlikely.
According to surveillance videos from the prison, suspicious movement
was detected at around 3 am, and considering that staff only noticed the
two cousins’ absence at morning call, it is believed that they had at
least a good 3-hour head-start on their pursuers. Their mug shots were
immediately shared with the police and the media, but the two have yet
to be caught. Maybe Italian authorities will get lucky and Zukanovic and
Ahmetovic will finish up their personal business sooner and stay true to
their promise…
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