The Holohan Murder Case - Trial in Absentia

Trial in Absentia

In the fall of 1951, the Italian government charged Icardi and LoDolce with murder, and tried to have them extradited to Italy, but U.S. judges denied the extradition requests. Icardi and LoDolce were outside the jurisdiction of U.S. military authorities because they had been discharged, and U.S. Courts had no jurisdiction over offenses committed in Italy. The judge in Icardi’s case refused the request to extradite him because at the time of the alleged crime, the Italian government did not have control over the area of the offense. In their rulings, however, the judges accepted the Italian version of events.

In 1953, the two Americans were tried for murder in absentia in Novara, Italy, along with former partisans "Giorgio" Migliari, Giuseppa Mannini, and Gualtieri Tozzini. The Italians testified to having helped plan murder of Holoran, who was poisoned and shot by LoDolce on Icardi's orders in order to divert more arms to Communists and to acquire between $45,000 and $150,000 (far more than the actual funds involved) that Holohan had for covert operations. They said that Holohan was "sentenced to death" as a "traitor".

Migliari testified that he and Icardi each invested $75,000 in Italian lire in a toy factory, the money coming from commissions paid by Holohan to get favorable exchange rates on the mission's funds. Some witnesses accused Icardi of living a lavish lifestyle and that Icardi had murdered Holohan on the orders of superiors, while others complimented Icardi's honesty and courage. When Senator Moscatelli was asked if Icardi was a Communist, the former partisan leader said, “How could he be if he is still a member of the United States Intelligence Service?”

Although Icardi and LoDolce were absent, they had a lawyer who told the court that Major Holohan had to be eliminated "as an obstacle in the fight for victory."

The Italians (who spent three years in jail) were acquitted by the judges who felt that the partisans acted "out of necessity" and were following orders. The Americans were convicted in absentia of murder. Icardi was sentenced to life imprisonment and LoDolce was sentenced to 17 years. Since neither man could be forced to go to Italy, neither served time.