Pino Pelosi, the only person convicted for the murder of controversial Italian intellectual Pier Paolo Pasolini more than 40 years ago has died in a Rome hospital, Andkronos learned on Thursday.
Pelosi, had fallen into a coma at Rome's Policlinico Gemelli hospital overnight, the sources said.
Pasolini was repeatedly run over with his car in the seaside town of Ostia late on 2 November, 1975, his testicles were crushed with an iron bar and his corpse was partially set alight.
Pelosi, who was found driving Pasolini's car after the killing and who was 17 at the time, confessed to the murder and in 1976 was sentenced to nine years in jail for the crime.
Pelosi was initially convicted with "unknown others" of Pasolini's murder but this was later removed from the verdict.
In 2005, Pelosi withdrew his confession, claiming it had been made under the threat of violence to his family. Three people "with a Southern accent" had committed the murder, insulting Pasolini and calling him a "dirty communist", Pelosi subsequently alleged.
Mystery continues to surround Pasolini's murder, which has long been viewed as a mafia-style revenge killing, in all probability carried out by more than one person.
Police in Rome reopened the case following Pelosi's retraction. Other evidence uncovered in 2005 pointed to Pasolini having been murdered by an extortionist, but a judge found it insufficient and the new investigation was closed.
