Rimini, August 22, 2026 – “I did not want to kill my wife and I did not want to take my own life. It was an accident.” Ismail Picari denies the charge of attempted murder and, before the judge, tells his version of that afternoon which ended with the Golf thrown into the waters of the port of Cattolica and with him and his wife rescued on the quay by some fishermen. The car, the 45-year-old Albanian claims, ended up in the sea due to an accident, which happened while they were having yet another argument.
The validation interrogation and Ismail’s version
Picari, a welder by profession and resident in San Giovanni in Marignano, appeared before the judge for the validation interrogation of the detention, assisted by lawyers Giuliano Renzi and Alessandro Leardini. He answered questions and reconstructed the hours before the car flew off the quay. He admitted that there have been tensions and quarrels between him and his wife for some time, especially over financial matters. On Wednesday, according to the accused, the two were supposed to go to the bank together to carry out some transactions. First, they would have stopped in the port area of Cattolica to get something to eat. Then, while still in the car, a particularly heated argument would have broken out. It was at that moment that, according to Picari, the situation got out of hand and the Golf accidentally ended up in the water. A scenario, therefore, that the 45-year-old describes as an accident and not as a deliberate act.
The defense also emphasized another aspect: there are no reports against Picari for mistreatment nor for previous episodes of domestic violence against his wife. Lawyers Renzi and Leardini therefore asked the judge not to validate the detention. At the end of the interrogation, the judge reserved the decision.
The wife’s version
But on the other side, there is the wife’s version, and it is a completely different story. The woman told the carabinieri that, once they reached the port, her husband suddenly accelerated, directing the Golf towards the sea. The vehicle would have hit a pole and then flown over the quay, ending up in the water of the dock basin. Once in the sea, according to the woman’s account, Picari managed to get out of the cabin. She, however, who does not know how to swim, was trapped as the Golf began to sink. She tried to get her husband’s attention to open the door, then managed to save herself by punching the rear hatch until she opened it and got out of the car.
Once she reached the quay, however, Picari had walked away on foot, disappearing without a trace. For almost five hours, the carabinieri searched for the 45-year-old. The search also focused around his home in San Giovanni in Marignano. Shortly before 9 p.m., Picari reappeared near his house, where the officers stopped him. From there, the detention on charges of attempted murder and transfer to prison.
