Moldovan dancer tells Italy shipwreck trial she was captain's lover
Dancer tells court she was lover of captain charged with manslaughter
A Moldovan dancer who had been on the bridge of the Costa Concordia cruise ship when it crashed into a reef off Italy electrified the captain’s manslaughter trial on Tuesday by testifying reluctantly that the two were lovers.
Domnica Cemortan, 26, only made the admission after being warned by the judge that she risked criminal charges if she didn’t answer the question.
The ship’s former captain, Francesco Schettino, is the sole defendant on trial in the Tuscan town of Grosseto. He is charged with manslaughter for the 32 people who died in the crash, with causing the shipwreck on the night of January 13, last year, and with abandoning ship while many passengers and crew were still aboard. He risks 20 years in jail if convicted.
Earlier in the day, ship maître d’ Antonello Tievoli testified that 10 days before the crash, he had asked Schettino for a favour: Would the captain sail close to the island of Giglio during the Mediterranean cruise because the crewman’s family lived there?
Heads in the courtroom turned on Tuesday when Cemortan strode in wearing high-heeled pumps and a figure-hugging black top and skirt. She was questioned both by prosecutors and lawyers for the survivors who have attached civil suits to the manslaughter trial.