Enrico Forti (born February 8, 1959), also known as Chico Forti or Kiko Forti, is an Italian former sportsman and entrepreneur. In 1997, he tried to buy the famous Pikes Hotel on the Mediterranean island of Ibiza. In June 2000, a Miami jury convicted Forti of shooting to death Anthony "Dale" Pike, the son of the founder of Pikes Hotel.
Forti was born in Trento, Italy, where he lived until graduating from high school in 1978. In 1979, Forti started learning the sport of windsurfing on Lake Garda which is the largest lake in Italy. With Robby Naish, he became one of the first in the world to loop (i.e. back flip complete with the windsurf board), at Diamond Head, Hawaii (1984). Forti helped to design and produce the first windsurf jump ramp (funboard). In 1985, he was the first Italian to compete for the windsurfing world cup.
In 1987, a car accident interrupted his windsurfing career. Following a long convalescence, Forti began producing extreme sports films. He wrote for sports magazines, and appeared on various sports television shows. In 1990, he created a production company that broadcast on ESPN and elsewhere, specializing in extreme sports. Also in 1990, Forti appeared in the Telemike television quiz show and won a large sum of money. That enabled him to move in 1992 to the United States. He divorced his Italian wife, and married a model with whom he has three children.
In 1998, Forti was in process of buying the Pikes Hotel in Ibiza from the owner, Anthony Pike. Pike's son Dale flew to Miami in February 1998 to find out what was going on, after he discovered a fax where his father (who had dementia) apparently signed the hotel and resort over to Forti. The body of Dale Pike, son of Anthony Pike, was found on February 15, 1998, at Virginia Key in Florida. [1] Prosecutors provided cell phone records showing Forti was near the beach where the body was found, plus a small sample of sand they found in Forti's vehicle, matching the unique sand from Virginia Key. [2] They also provided airport paging records confirming that Forti and Pike had been communicating over the airport intercom system, thus proving that Forti was lying when he denied having picked Dale Pike up at the airport. [3]
Forti was sentenced to life in a Florida prison for killing Dale Pike, and state courts rejected his appeals on the murder conviction. [2] While Forti began serving his sentence of life without parole, the press in his native Italy compared his case to that of Amanda Knox, an American living in Italy who was famously convicted of murder based upon little evidence. [3] Forti claims the Miami Dade Police Department, prosecutor Reid Rubin and judge Victoria Platzer fabricated evidence to punish him for his documentary on Versace's killer Cunanan. [4]
Forti claims lieutenant John Campbell, detective Confesor Gonzalez and detective Katherine Carter fabricated false evidence against him and told him "You're the Italian who accused the Miami police, you will never see your kids again". [5] [6] Forti also claims the Miami Dade police officers ripped the photos of his kids and spat on them. [7] Italian media supported Forti's innocence against Miami Dade police until criminologist Marco Strano published a report about the investigation and trial to prove there was no conspiracy against Forti. [8]
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Italian government requested that Florida transfer Forti to prison in Italy; in December 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis conditionally approved transferring Forti to Italy, over the objections of Miami-Dade prosecutors. The transfer was conditioned upon an assurance from the Italian government that Forti would complete the prison sentence given to him in Florida, plus consent of the victim's next of kin. [2] In Italy, life without parole is illegal. [9] DeSantis's move led commentators to predict Forti would be released from jail. [2] [10] Forti's transfer to Italy was therefore impeded because Italy's internal jurisdiction would allow Forti to receive a reduced sentence. On March 1, 2024, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni announced during her mission in the US that an agreement upon Forti's release and return to Italy was reached. [11]
Enrico Forti asked the mafia clan known as 'ndrangheta to silence two journalists, Marco Travaglio and Selvaggia Lucarelli, who published articles about his criminal records. [12]
The 'Ndrangheta is an Italian Mafia-type association based in the peninsular region of Calabria and dating back to the 19th century. Although loosely structured, it is considered one of the most powerful organized crime groups in the world. It is characterized by a horizontal structure made up of autonomous clans known as 'ndrine, based almost exclusively on blood ties. Since the 1950s, following wide-scale emigration from Calabria, 'Ndrangheta clans dispersed to other European countries, Australia and the Americas. Currently, its main activity is drug trafficking, but it also deals with arms trafficking, money laundering, racketeering, extortion, and loan sharking.
Marco Travaglio is an Italian journalist, writer, and pundit. Since 2015, he has been the editor-in-chief of the independent daily newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano. Travaglio began his journalistic career in the late 1980s under Indro Montanelli at Il Giornale and La Voce, then in the 2000s worked at La Repubblica and L'Unità, before becoming one of the founders of Il Fatto Quotidiano in 2009. He is also the author of many books and a columnist for several other national newspapers and magazines, his main interests have been judicial reporting and current affairs and politics, dealing with issues ranging from the fight against the Italian Mafia to corruption.
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Mario Brega was an Italian character actor. His heavy build meant that he regularly portrayed a thug in his films, particularly earlier in his career in westerns. Later in his career, however, he featured in numerous Italian comedy films. Brega stood at 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) and well over 250 pounds (110 kg) at his heaviest but after the 1960s slimmed down significantly.
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Renato Maria Giuseppe Schifani is an Italian politician who has served as the president of Sicily since 13 October 2022. Schifani was Silvio Berlusconi's chief whip and was a prominent member of the Senate of the Republic from 1996 to 2022. From 29 April 2008 to 14 March 2013, he was the president of the Senate of the Republic.
il Fatto Quotidiano is an Italian daily newspaper owned by Editoriale Il Fatto S.p.A. and published in Rome. It was founded on 23 September 2009 and was edited by Antonio Padellaro until 2015, when Marco Travaglio became the editor. The three deputy editors are Marco Lillo, Salvatore Cannavò and Maddalena Oliva.
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Domenico Libri, also known as Don Mico, was an Italian criminal and a member of the 'Ndrangheta in Calabria. Libri was a fugitive since June 1989 and his name was on the list of most wanted fugitives in Italy until his capture in September 1992. At the time he was considered to be the 'Ndrangheta’s number one.
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Scott J. Silverman is an American lawyer and a retired judge who served more than 21 years on Florida's 11th Judicial Circuit. He is currently a mediator and arbitrator with JAMS, the largest private provider of mediation and arbitration services worldwide.
Pikes Hotel, now known as Pikes Ibiza, is a luxury hotel in Ibiza, in the Balearic Islands of Spain. It is located in the countryside, 1.6 miles (2.6 km) to the northeast of the town of Sant Antoni de Portmany, and 10.2 miles (16.4 km) to the northwest of Ibiza Town. A 15th-century stone mansion which was a finca, it was converted into a hotel in 1978 by British-born Australian Anthony Pike.
Mario Feliciani was an Italian actor and voice actor.
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Marco Strano is an Italian criminologist and former police lieutenant who is best known for his research about the Chico Forti case.