(27 Mar 1995) Italian/Nat
Maurizio Gucci, member of one of Italy's leading fashion families, was gunned down Monday in Milan.
Gucci was shot by an unknown gunman as he entered the building where he worked. He died instantly.
The building's doorman was hit in the arm and leg and is in a fair condition in a Milan hospital.
Maurizio Gucci was a grandson of Guccio Gucci, founder of the world-famous exclusive designer label that bears his name.
As news of the shooting spread, reporters and photographers gathered on Via Palestro, scene of the crime.
The body of 46-year-old Gucci was taken away to a Milan hospital while the caretaker took charge of cleaning up the blood in the lobby.
According to one report, an unidentified man shot Gucci and the doorman, and then fled in a green car driven by another person.
One eyewitness was at the scene shortly after the shooting.
VOXPOP: (In Italian)
(Translation for guidance only)
"I was going to the bathroom down the subway station and I heard someone screaming 'Oh my God'. So I ran back and I saw the wounded doorman lying in the street and inside the building on the first steps in the lobby the body of a dead man in a pool of blood".
SUPER CAPTION: Eyewitness
Shortly after, Milan police held an impromptu press conference where they released details of the shooting.
However, they gave no clues as to a motive for the killing.
SOUNDBITE: (Italian)
(Translation for guidance only)
"...he was shot three times in the head - like an execution; one in the temple, the jaw and the face. The other two in the body, the spleen and leg."
SUPER CAPTION: Paolo La Forgia - Police inspector
Maurizio Gucci was a grandson of Guccio Gucci who founded the company in 1922 and emphasised Florentine artistry in leather goods and other fashion items.
The Gucci interlocking "G" symbol became synonymous with exclusive designer-label appeal.
The family's history however is turbulent.
Bitter in-fighting and protracted boardroom battles lost the Gucci brothers control of the company, which is now in the hands of an Arab investment bank.
Maurizio Gucci was the last family member to hold shares of the company which he sold to Investcorp in September of 1993.
He was also the last family member to hold a position on the board in the late 1980s.
In November 1988, Maurizio Gucci was convicted of tax fraud and given a one-year suspended prison term and a fine of 1 million lire ( = 760 US dollars).
The court said Gucci had been trying to evade inheritance taxes by forging his father's signature.
The sentence was later overturned by an appeals court.
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