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In 'House of Gucci,' Who Is Pina Auriemma, The Co-Conspirator Played By Salma Hayek?
Pina Auriemma, depicted in the upcoming "House of Gucci" movie by Salma Hayek, did time for helping to arrange Maurizio Gucci's murder.
One of the many fascinating details about the Gucci family murder depicted in the feature film “House of Gucci” is that a psychic helped plan the slaying.
The movie primarily portrays how Patrizia Reggiani Martinelli set up the murder of her ex-husband and former head of the fashion house Gucci, 46-year-old Maurizio Gucci. He was fatally gunned down in the foyer of his Milan office in 1995 and Reggiano was convicted in 1998 for setting up the hit.
In the course of the police investigation, it was discovered that Reggiani’s bestie and supposed psychic, Giuseppina “Pina” Auriemma, made contact with the hitman and his driver. Auriemma was sentenced to 25 years while Benedetto Ceraulo, the hitman, was handed a life sentence. Orazio Cicala, the getaway driver, received 29 years behind bars.
A 1997 Los Angeles Times piece, which described Auriemma as a “high-society psychic" and Reggiani's "spiritual advisor," noted that Auriemma had also run her own Gucci franchise store.
Ottavio Aragona, a deputy police commander in Milan, also told the Los Angeles Times that Auriemma “enjoyed the trust and confidence” of Gucci's ex-wife. The two friends were described as extremely close with one another.
Auriemma had even moved in with Reggiani in 1994, the same year that Reggiana's divorce from Gucci was finalized (though their relationship ended years before that), according to E! Online. The purpose of her moving in was supposedly to help her friend write a book about her life in the Gucci world. Instead, the pair plotted the murder of the former fashion head.
It is reported that Reggiani paid her psychic more than $300,000 to hire Cicala and Ceraulo. Auriemma asked hotel night porter Ivano Savioni to put her in touch with the two men.
Auriemma was released from prison in 2010.
In a newly released extended trailer of the film, Auriemma’s character, played by Salma Hayek, is seen with Reggiani, played by Lady Gaga, as she visits the apparent hitman and his associate. Reggiani pleads with Ceraulo's character not to "miss."
