“Michela Principe, 48 years old from Sperone, utters desperate words: “I have no support. I am alone. I have been advised to leave here. I want to do it too, but I have a 14-year-old autistic son and it’s not easy. However, I don’t exclude trying. Now I have no help from anyone. My mother is sick and I lost a sister ten years ago.” These are the desperate words of Michela Principe, 48 years old from Sperone. At the end of June, her ex, Pellegrino Crisci, shot her with a firearm while she was going to the police to report him. Crisci was intercepted by the police while he was driving his Maserati. A chase through the streets of Mandamento ensued. Shots were fired, then the arrest. Michela Crisci still bears the marks of that episode. She was hit by two bullets. “I can no longer move my arm and hand. They are practically paralyzed. I was at the hospital today too (yesterday for the readers, editor’s note). I am spending a lot of money on private visits and diagnostic tests,” says the woman. “I could try to have surgery in Bologna or Ravenna, where there are specialists. We’ll see. But now I have other thoughts.” Especially those for her 14-year-old son, dealing with a serious condition. “I have difficulty taking him to the care center. I recently got my car back, heavily damaged by bullets.” Michela lives in a continuous nightmare, despite her ex now being in prison. “I can’t sleep at night. As soon as I hear my dogs barking, even in the middle of the night, I look out the window to see if there’s anyone. I no longer go out in the evenings. Only during the day and for a short time,” explains the 48-year-old who always feels watched. And chased. “A few hours ago, when I was coming home from the hospital, I saw a car in the rearview mirrors. I thought it was following me. I panicked. So I stopped. One cannot live like this.” Then there are the daily difficulties of a single woman with an autistic child, a victim of violence. “Do you know what my biggest fear is?” asks Michela. “My biggest fear is that if something were to happen to me, my son would be locked up in an institution.” Ms. Principe is assisted by her trusted lawyer, Nicola D’Archi, who has also turned to the Municipality and social workers to seek support for the 48-year-old. The lawyer is working on every possible solution to help the woman. Michela Principe vents her frustration: “I read about this sad story of the lady from Sorrento, killed by her ex who had been reported. But you report. And then? Nothing happens. Actions are needed to prevent these people from causing harm again. Someone who loses their mind does not think of being under house arrest or being subject to a restraining order. They no longer think and do whatever comes to mind. These men who are subject to measures need to be monitored. If we don’t want to put them in prison, apply electronic monitoring to check their movements.” From here, Michela recalls what happened last June: “He was under house arrest, but he still left the house when he found out that I was going to the police to report him. If I had left home later, I wouldn’t be here now. I have to thank my mother who encouraged me not to waste time.” Dramatic moments, which she recounts with a trembling voice and tears: “I crossed paths with him on the road. I don’t know who helped me that day. I feel like a miracle. He chased me, he shot at me. I fled in the car and took the road that leads to that alley in Avella where the post office is by pure chance.” Then, the story is known. Crisci is later arrested by the police. “At the beginning of our relationship,” says Michela, “he was kind, calm, seemed like a helpful and cheerful person. Then he changed. Once I was forced to leave home for three days. I must say that he always loved my son, adored him, and I must say that he never dared to touch him. He always behaved well with my son.” Michela Principe continues to live in fear: “I no longer sleep at night. And then I have these pains that torment me. Every day I have to take painkiller injections. I always fear that something will happen.”
