Chapter 6 - THE EAST GARDEN BEFORE THE JURY
Gianna’s trial began eighteen months after the rainstorm.
She faced charges involving attempted murder, kidnapping, unlawful administration of medication, child endangerment, evidence fabrication, witness intimidation, obstruction, and conspiracy.
Victor Sanz and Nina Velez faced separate charges based on their participation.
Gianna’s father faced financial proceedings abroad and in the United States concerning the proposed merger and false disclosures.
The prosecution began with Rosa’s phone recording.
The courtroom heard rain.
Rosa digging.
Marco’s faint voice:
“Rosa… please.”
Then Gianna:
“Walk away, or you disappear too.”
Rosa’s answer followed.
“Dominic heard every word.”
The recording did not show the trench.
The estate photographs did.
Marco’s handprint remained visible inside the compressed soil.
Gianna’s ring was recovered near his shoulder.
Fibers from her dress appeared on his jacket.
Her fingerprints were found on the shovel and the medicine cup recovered from the garden shed.
A toxicologist explained the antihistamine level.
“Could the medication cause weakness and drowsiness?”
“Yes.”
“Could it prevent a seven-year-old from escaping loose soil?”
“It could significantly impair his ability.”
“Can you say the medication alone would have killed him?”
“No.”
“Was the combination of sedation, burial, rain, and restricted breathing life-threatening?”
“Yes.”
Gianna’s attorney argued Marco fell.
The forensic soil expert explained that soil had been placed in layers over his torso.
A natural trench collapse would have distributed earth differently and buried nearby objects.
The shovel marks showed deliberate movement.
Rosa testified.
Gianna’s attorney approached.
“You disliked Ms. Kanti?”
“I feared her.”
“You considered Marco your own child?”
“I loved him.”
“Did you resent his father marrying?”
“No.”
“You believed Gianna would replace you?”
“She tried.”
“So you had motive to invent accusations.”
Rosa looked toward Gianna.
“I found a hand coming through the ground.”
The attorney displayed photographs of Rosa’s muddy clothing.
“You disturbed the scene.”
“I removed a breathing child.”
“You may have destroyed evidence.”
“I may have saved the witness.”
The courtroom became silent.
Marco did not testify in open court.
His forensic interview was presented through child-protection procedures after judicial review.
He described Gianna offering him warm milk in the library.
He became tired.
She told him Elena’s letters were in the garden.
Near the trench, she asked whether he would sign papers saying he wanted to attend school in Italy.
He refused.
“She pushed me down,” Marco said.
“What happened next?” the interviewer asked.
“She said Dad would have new children.”
“Did she cover you with dirt?”
“Yes.”
“Did she say anything?”
“That no one would find me.”
“Did you lose consciousness?”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you remember?”
“Rain. Rosa.”
The memory card recordings established Gianna’s financial plan.
Victor testified under a cooperation agreement.
His attorney had negotiated a reduced sentence in exchange for truthful, corroborated testimony.
Gianna’s defense attacked his credibility.
“You stole client funds.”
“Yes.”
“You prepared false documents.”
“Yes.”
“You want mercy.”
“Yes.”
“So why should anyone believe you?”
“They should not believe me where the records disagree.”
The records did not disagree.
Draft guardianship petitions existed.
The false runaway email existed.
The disguised gate footage existed.
The maintenance van reservation existed.
Gianna’s messages about Marco existed.
Her attorney argued she never explicitly wrote that she intended to kill him.
The prosecution agreed.
Intent was shown through conduct.
Sedating him.
Placing him in the trench.
Covering him.
Leaving.
Threatening Rosa.
Failing to call for help after learning he was alive.
Gianna testified against her attorney’s recommendation.
She described herself as desperate to protect Dominic from a manipulative child influenced by Rosa.
“Did Marco attack you?” her attorney asked.
“He resisted everything.”
“Did you intend to kill him?”
“No.”
“What did you intend?”
“To frighten him.”
“Why place him in the trench?”
“It was shallow.”
“Did you cover him?”
“Only partly.”
“Did you believe he could breathe?”
“Yes.”
The prosecutor approached.
“Why destroy his tablet?”
“He recorded private conversations.”
“Why fabricate a runaway email?”
“To protect Dominic from scandal.”
“Why arrange a van?”
“To move Marco somewhere safe.”
“Why not use a normal vehicle?”
“Privacy.”
“Why sedate him?”
“He was hysterical.”
“Why threaten Rosa?”
“I panicked.”
“Why not help her dig?”
Gianna looked toward the jury.
“I knew how it would appear.”
The prosecutor displayed the photograph of Marco’s hand breaking through the soil.
“How did it appear?”
Gianna did not answer.
The jury convicted her on the principal attempted-murder, kidnapping, medication, endangerment, intimidation, fabrication, obstruction, and conspiracy charges supported by the evidence.
One aggravated count requiring proof that she specifically intended permanent respiratory disability resulted in acquittal.
The evidence proved she knowingly risked Marco’s death.
It did not establish that separate intended outcome beyond a reasonable doubt.
Accuracy mattered.
Victor received a reduced but serious sentence reflecting his cooperation and financial role.
Nina was convicted on evidence-fabrication and conspiracy charges but acquitted of attempted murder because prosecutors could not prove she knew about the burial plan.
At sentencing, Gianna said:
“I loved Dominic.”
Rosa’s statement answered her.
“You loved the kingdom you imagined around him. Marco was the person who reminded you it did not belong to you.”
Dominic spoke last.
He did not threaten her.
“You believed my violence would erase your violence,” he said. “That belief came from the world I built.”
Then he looked toward the judge.
“My son paid for both.”
No one applauded when the sentence was imposed.
May you like
Marco was not in court.
He was outside with Rosa, planting a small rosemary bush in a raised wooden garden where no soil could close over him.
