It is best to begin as soon as possible. In 1995, Maurizio Guicci’s ex-wife went on a shopping spree in Milan in search of a one-of-a-kind outfit.
This was not surprising given that Patrizia Reggiani was a fashion designer who favoured colourful frocks as well as film star dark glasses at the time.
Except on this occasion, she purchased an elegant black suit and veil to wear to Maurizio’s funeral, despite the fact that he was still alive and, by all accounts, in good health. Patrizia was forewarned about what was to come.
Maurizio awoke three months later to find a dark-haired man approaching him behind his Milan offices. The man drew a gun from his back pocket and fired three rounds into his chest.
The assassination stunned Italy. Maurizio (the last Gucci family dynasty member to lead the luxury brand) and Patrizia (his flamboyant, strong-willed wife) were a power couple prior to their bitter divorce.
Patrizia was apprehended in 1997 as a result of a tip. A Cartier search revealed that she used the word Paradise to mark the date of Maurizio’s death. She was convicted and sentenced to hiring a hitman to kill him after a thrilling trial.
Giuseppina ‘Pina’ Auriemma (left), Patrizia Reggiani’s ex-best friend, was convicted of acting as the’middle woman’ in the Maurizio Gucci hit, liaising with the murder’s organiser.
Few people in this high-living couple’s gilded world were better placed to witness Patrizia’s downfall than her former best friend Giuseppina ‘Pina’ Auriemma – a storey of love, betrayal, sexual jealousy, and bloody revenge set against a high-fashion backdrop that is now being retold in Ridley Scott’s film House Of Gucci.
Pina recalled Patrizia’s ruthlessness in her first interview with The Mail. She cited the purchase of a funeral gown she made on an unnamed shopping trip.
Pina expresses her long-held resentment at being drawn into Black Widow’s web and being separated from her family. Pina was found guilty of being the “middle man” in the crime and liaising with the murder’s organiser.
Following her arrest, Pina was dubbed the Black Witch by the Italian media and described as a maga – a sorcerer or fortune-teller.
Pina (75), a high school friend, slams Lady Gaga, calling her evil. This woman ruined everything in my life.
“I was a fan of Patrizia when I first met her, but after meeting her again, I realised she is a shallow narcissist who only cares about money and will go to any length to get it.”
Her resentment stems in part from Patrizia’s insistence that Pina was to blame, which she vehemently denied. They both served their sentences in Milan’s San Vittore Prison and avoided each other for many years.
Patrizia was charged with murdering her husband because she had a “insatiable hatred” for his new relationship with another woman.
However, there were numerous other factors. Maurizio was forced to sell his Gucci stock 18 months before his death. Patrizia did not make this decision lightly, according to Patrizia, who knew everything there was to know about Gucci.
It was her identity as a woman, including her identity as an ex-wife. She was enraged by Maurizio’s decision to sell her.
Following the divorce, Patrizia attempted suicide from the balcony of her opulent apartment, according to Pina. She also developed an addiction to anti-anxiety medications and began ripping apart leather walls in an elevator.
Pina (Salma Hayek) is portrayed as an eccentric and dowdy mystic whom Patrizia meets after seeing her on a clairvoyant television show.
It is claimed that Patrizia ordered her husband’s murder because she despised her new relationship with another woman. Lady Gaga plays Patrizia, and Adam Driver plays Maurizio.
According to Pina, the reality is quite different. ‘I have never practised magic or fortune telling – I have no interest in it – and to say I do is defamatory.
Patrizia, Maurizio, and other members of the group were obsessed with mediums and tarot cards. When they moved to a new area, they would look for the nearest psychic.
They met at the Excelsior Spa Hotel on the Italian volcanic island of Ischia.
‘I liked Patrizia right away,’ Pina says. Pina claims they were both in their 30s and had a good time together. She wasn’t well-known at the time, so I had no idea who she was. I recall her wearing a pearl bathing suit and being decked out in jewels.
She was adamant about not eating. This was the norm for upper-class women at the time. We spent the majority of our time at the spa gossiping. Her husband arrived at the very end to join us. He enjoyed champagne and a good meal.
Maurizio, according to Pina, “seemed like a nice person, if a bit gullible and naive, and we got along well.”
In their relationship, Patrizia wore pants. He appeared to be madly in love with her. When she entered a room, he couldn’t take his gaze away from her.
His father died in 1983. Maurizio inherited 50% of Gucci, but the brand lost its lustre as a result of its name being too frequently licenced.
Pina claimed that a socialite friend thought she was more powerful than everyone else and thus more Gucci. Al Pacino portrayed him. She provoked Maurizio into a power struggle with his uncle Aldo.
Her ambitions to become Gucci’s First Lady were dashed when the company’s top executives outmanoeuvred her.
Being a housewife was a difficult life for her. She owned a 200-foot yacht, a chalet in St. Moritz, a vacation home in Acapulco, and a farm in Connecticut. She was once said to spend £9,000 per month on orchids.
She yearned for respect, but it was unattainable.
‘Patrizia called me every day at night when she was sad,’ Pina explained. She didn’t mind if I was sleeping. Because Patrizia was born to a poor mother, many of the women in her circle looked down on her.
She was previously referred to as “waitress’s daughter,” but she later resentfully stated, “I am Mrs Gucci.”
Patrizia preferred Yves Saint Laurent gowns and Hermes handbags during their early days together because Gucci was not fashionable.
Pina stated that she could afford to shop in a variety of jewellery stores and could spend her husband’s hard-earned money.
She bought celebrity magazines on a daily basis, but she didn’t have many friends. She may have met Donald Trump once at a party, but that was it, and she was also not close to Jackie Onassis – this is false information.
Patrizia loved the sea and would frequently sail around the Greek Islands or to Porto Cervo in Sardinia.
Pina (pictured in House of Gucci by Salma Hayek) was found guilty of the murder, but she maintains that she did not facilitate it.
“She wasn’t a big drinker, and she didn’t do drugs.” I wasn’t allowed to accompany her to many glamorous parties.
“She was, in fact, a dedicated mother.” Holidays were usually spent with a private chef, a few glasses of champagne, and going to bed at 11 p.m.
“One of her favourite pastimes was reading thrillers, particularly murder mystery novels.” This makes me wonder if that is what sparked her desire to murder her husband.”
In 1985, Maurizio – played in the film by Star Wars actor Adam Driver – told his wife he was leaving on a business trip, from which he never returned.
In fact, he was having an affair with Sheree McLaughlin, a woman in her late twenties from the United States. Before picking up his black Ferrari, he flew back and forth across the Atlantic in a Concorde.
Sheree stated last week that he was the catalyst for the film’s release. He claimed that he had no intention of ending his marriage, but that he did.
Pina remembers things in a unique way. Pina claims that Patrizia called her one day while screaming and crying down the phone. Patrizia walked away.
‘I couldn’t believe it – Maurizio appeared to be madly in love.’ ‘It’s bull****,’ I told her. But Maurizio was easily manipulated, which is why he left Patrizia despite his friends’ advice. He was frail.
“After the breakup, I flew to New York and spent a month living with her in their luxury fifth-floor apartment in The Olympic Tower, which she designed with the assistance of workers who had flown in directly from Italy,” Patrizia says. We didn’t go anywhere.
‘Patrizia was inconsolable, and I was afraid she’d jump off the balcony.’ She was yelling and screaming and couldn’t sleep.
Patrizia ripped the leather-lined elevator interior from her apartment. Despite her feelings for Maurizio and her husband, she was more than upset that he had abandoned her. She was upset because she had lost the life she desired – she was no longer a Gucci.’
Patrizia described her alimony payment of £1 million per year as “little more than a plate of lentils.” Despite their divorce, she continued to use her husband’s surname and insisted on referring to him as’my husband,’ while also making no secret of her dislike for him.
When Maurizio divorced Sheree, got engaged to artist Paola Franchi, and sold his remaining stock in Gucci for around £120 million, it became clear that Patrizia’s daughters Alessandra, 45, and Allegra, 40, would not take over the company.
Patrizia, according to Pina, was obsessed with gaining control of their yachts, Creole and Oeil Bleu. This is the family’s third residence in St Moritz.
Pina says Pina that Pina asked everybody, “How can you kill your husband?” Because I was from Naples, she believed I could assist because I am associated with the Mafia.
Pina recalls Patrizia’s ruthlessness. She cites the purchase of a funeral gown on a trip she made that was a surprise, as well as her impulsive purchases. Pictured: Lady Gaga as Patrizia in House of Gucci
Pina maintained her innocence despite being found guilty in a criminal trial. Pina does confess to taking money form Patrizia but claims that this was a fraud.
She claims that her fashion store had gone bankrupt and that she was deeply in debt. ‘As a result, the funds are required.’ Patrizia offered me 150 million lire (£70,000) in cash, but I had no intention of finding a hitman – it was all a ruse.
“I decided that Maurizio could not die unless she gave me all of her money.” After two years had passed since Maurizio’s death, Patrizia was able to locate a hitman through a friend.
She then went on a three-month shopping spree to buy a black veil and a dress.
Benedetto Cerulo, a professional hitman, was sentenced to life in prison, while Ivano Savioni (a night porter and friend of Pina) was sentenced to 26 years. The getaway driver, Orazio Cecala, was sentenced to 29 years in prison.
In 2016, Patrizia was released and won a legal battle to keep a portion of her ex-fortune. husband’s You can see her walking around Milan with a macaw pet on her shoulders, and she recently stated that while she was not guilty, being innocent did not make sense.
Despite her protests, Pina admits that she committed the crime.
“I was eating breakfast when I discovered Maurizio had died,” she explained. ‘I nearly fainted because it was so shocking.’
Patrizia called and asked, ‘Did you hear the news?’ She was emotionless when she said she was going to the station.
“When they came to arrest me, I told them, “Finally.” The guilt was too much for me to bear. I had hoped to surrender many times, but I was afraid and stood in front of the police station.
‘While I was in jail, Patrizia offered me 100 million lire (£36,000) to take the blame. We spent our entire time in prison together trying not to get hurt again.
“The saddest part for me was that Patrizia doted on my daughters and declared she would kill her husband to protect their future and money,” she continued.
“However, they are now feuding and fighting over his yacht and money.” It’s extremely disappointing.
Regardless of the truth, she claims she has thoughts about Maurizio. “I’m not depressed about prison. I’m saddened by the death of that young man.
“I am certain that I have done a horrible thing.”
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