Patrizia Reggiani Martinelli is the ex-wife of Maurizio Gucci. During the 1980s while she was married to Maurizio Gucci, she was a wealthy Italian socialite and high fashion personality. In late 1998 she went through a scandalous trial followed closely by the Italian public for ordering her husband's murder.
Relationship with Maurizio Gucci
In 1973 she married Maurizio Gucci, with whom she had two daughters, Allegra and Alessandra. On May 2, 1985, after 12 years of marriage, Maurizio left Patrizia for a younger woman, telling her he was going on a short business trip. He never returned home. In 1991, Patrizia and Maurizio Gucci officially divorced. As part of the settlement, Patrizia Reggiani collected the equivalent of $500,000 annual alimony. In 1992 she was diagnosed with a brain tumor, which was removed without any negative consequences. On March 27, 1995, her husband was shot and killed by a hitman hired by Patrizia on the steps outside his office as he arrived to work.
Trial
On January 31, 1997 Patrizia Reggiani was arrested, and in 1998 she was convicted of arranging the killing of her husband, Maurizio Gucci, and sentenced to 29 years in prison. The trial garnered intense media interest and is where Reggiani became known as the "Black Widow". Her daughters asked that her conviction be overturned, claiming her brain tumor had affected her personality. In 2000, an appeals court in Milan upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence to 26 years. That same year, Reggiani tried to commit suicide by hanging herself with a shoelace, but was rescued. In October 2011, she was offered the possibility of open prison, but refused saying "I've never worked in my life and I'm certainly not going to start now". She was released in October 2016 after serving 18 years. The sentence was cut short due to time off for good behaviour. In 2017, she was awarded an annuity of £900,000 from Gucci's estate. This was due to an agreement signed in 1993. The court also ruled on a back-payment during her time in prison, amounting to over £16m. The ordering was made against her ex-husband's estate, currently being administered by her two daughters, who were expected to appeal. In November 2019 it was announced that Ridley Scott will make a film on Patrizia's marriage and murder of her ex-husband, with Lady Gaga portraying her.
