Posted on 12/30/2006 6:13:33 PM PST by blam
'To my sons, £7m of Sardinian coast: to my daughters, a shack in the hills'
By Malcolm Moore in Capo Spartivento, Sunday Telegraph
Last Updated: 11:44pm GMT 30/12/2006
In the bay of Jews, on the southernmost tip of Sardinia, the water is azure, the sand is white, and a colony of flamingos wades in the shallows.
Even in December, the temperature is a balmy 17 degrees and the sea is calm, sheltered from wind by the surrounding mountains.
From the beach to the mountains, the land belongs to Pietrino Culurgioni, 90. A hotel that he built offers sweeping sea views, while his four children live in elegant homes on the mountainside above, overlooking the bay.
However, this apparent paradise is at the centre of an entirely worldly dispute, as the subject of Italy's longest-running and most hopeless court case – a 46-year-old epic battle which still has no end in sight.
The tussle over the property at the Bay of Jews has outlived three lawyers and several judges. It is now being waged by the children of the original plaintiffs, all but one of whom are now dead.
"My mother died from worrying about whether we would be able to pay the legal bill," said Laura Murgia, one of the current plaintiffs and a nurse at Olbia Hospital.
The story began on the night of December 14 1959, when her grandfather Giovanni Culurgioni's heart stopped beating. He was 83. He had been a cheese-maker and a farmer, but also an important landowner.
He left behind four oxen, two cows, a few hundred goats, some milk vats, a farm truck, a cart and three copper boilers. Combined with his house, these possessions were worth a little less than £13,000, a decent sum at the time.
However, the jewel of the estate was a prime stretch of Sardinian coast at Capo Spartivento, which is now one of the most fashionable resorts in Italy. For reasons that are unclear, he decided to leave his 470 acres of coast to Pietrino, his youngest son.
Another prized spot, 840 acres in the mountains above, was left to his older son, Antonio. The two parcels of land are now worth about £7 million between them. Some land has been sold off to developers.
Meanwhile, Culurgioni's four daughters were left nothing more than a small farm in the mountains, only suitable for housing a few cows.
The daughters, outraged at the unequal division, launched a court case the following year. No one can remember a longer case, certainly not one that remains active. As the years have passed, the increase in value of the rival inheritance has helped to fuel the bitterness in the family.
Ferdinando Murgia, the son of one of the daughters, said his mother believed her brother, Pietrino, used "dark arts" to persuade their father to leave him the finest spots. "He was the youngest, and he remained at home after the other children had married.
"Giovanni was smart, but he was illiterate. He was sick in his last year, so who knows what happened?" he said.
The brothers maintain that the will was made according to their father's wishes. A selection of witnesses, including the farm hands who worked alongside Culurgioni, have all died, but their testimonies could not establish whether the old man was hoodwinked, or really did intend to favour his sons.
Consequently, the case has dragged on. The court hears it "once or twice a year, and only for 10 to 15 minutes," said Mr Murgia. "Then the lawyers retire to discuss matters. There are 3,000 pages of evidence."
Two agreements have been reached, but then reversed. In 1968, the family gathered for a conciliatory lunch, and drafted an accord. Pietrino Culurgioni was to give four slices of his land to his sisters. His lawyers subsequently persuaded him that the informal deal was against his interests.
In January this year, a new accord was drafted. But before it could be signed, Antonio Culurgioni died. Meanwhile, another Murgia cousin demanded a larger share.
Both sides now blame lawyers for the tortuous delays. "We are on our fourth lawyer," said Mr Murgia. "The first three have passed away during the case. Every time they die, we pay up and then someone finds another one."
The Culurgionis refused to discuss the case. "They like to think the trial is over and they will be allowed to keep the land," said Mr Murgia. He said Pietrino's strategy was to prolong the case and tire the Murgias into submission.
Even so, he insisted, there is no bad blood between the two sides. "We grew up together. I greet them warmly when I see them, even Uncle Pietrino."
Adriano Culurgioni, 60, Pietrino's son, runs a campsite on the beach at the Bay of Jews. His stone-clad house is covered in bougainvillea, and he drives a BMW.
"No one in the family will say anything," he said. "We did not want it to turn out like this. Things in Italy are always a mess. The lawyers are grasping. Please talk to them. Now, please leave our land."
The Culurgioni lawyer, Mario Bitti, was dismissive. "There is nothing exceptional about how long this trial has gone on for. In Italy, civil cases take a long time."
If a verdict is ever reached, there is still the prospect of an appeal, but fortunately there seems little appetite among the next generation of the family for continuing the fight. "My children couldn't care less about it," said Mr Murgia, looking wistfully over the bay.
lol, not I went through a case like this didn't last nearly as long though. Still waiting for my share 5 years later. Not worth taking it back to court.
>>"We are on our fourth lawyer,"
Since 1959, only FOUR?
Ok, but this could have been resolved in the '50s if the girls had just phoned home more often (your basic "dark arts"). Or in the '60s they could have shaken it loose from the brothers by threatening to sell their interests to the Aga Khan.
But nooooo. Some folks would rather bicker.
The Second Amendment does have a place.
Too bad the sons didn't share with their sisters instead of sharing with the attorneys.
>>The Second Amendment does have a place.
"No guns at the dinner table." Isn't that part of the code of the West?
My mother who hailed from Sardinia would be amused if she were alive. This could go on for a long time. Sardinians have the longest life xpectancy in Europe. A combination of genes, wine and cheese.
Exactly. The right thing would have been so simple to do.
"Sardinians have the longest life xpectancy in Europe. A combination of genes, wine and cheese."
Eating this stuff just makes it SEEM as though your life is long...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casu_marzu
In this case? Where?
Thought that was from eating roasted goats and avoiding large quantities of wheat based products.
Instructing the lawyers in the necessity of wrapping up the case.
Sick stuff....that casa marzu. Barf.
Oh my God.. YUCK !!!
It sucks that the girls got stiffed, and it sucks that the sons failed to do the right thing, but the Courts have no business in this matter if the daughters had no physical evidence of foul play.
...that the Courts can't just rule per the law and evidence goes to show that they care more about "Results" and "fairness" rather than about the law and justice.
The man had a right to leave whatever he wanted to whomever he wanted.
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