Turkish court hands down life sentence for Italian artist's killer

The verdict found sole murder suspect, 38-year-old Murat Karatas, guilty of kidnapping, raping and murdering the 32-year-old artist. 

Turkish prosecutors had sought "aggravated life in prison" for Karatas for the rape and murder of Pasqualin, also known as Pippa Bacca, after he picked her up in northwestern Turkey while she was hitchhiking to Israel on a mission of peace that began in October 2008. Bacca’s murder created outrage both in Turkey and Italy.

Bacca departed from the Italian city of Milan together with Silvia Moro, an artist friend, on March 8. The two artists had been hitchhiking to the Israeli city of Tel Aviv hoping to send a "peace message" to the world.

Bacca and Moro separated from each other in Istanbul on March 19, and after March 31, and no further contact could be established. The 33-year-old artist was later found dead in a forest near the town of Gebze in the northwestern province of  Kocaeli on April 12.