It's of interest to note, that these are the last of the 5 that were still trying to appeal. There have been 42 convictions around this crime up until now.

By the way, here's the aritcle in Italian if anyone's interested. It's a lot more informative. I'll briefly translate it:

http://www.grandangoloagrigento.it/uccis...rettante-belve/

The Appeal Court of Palermo has held up 5 life sentences for the heinous murder of little Giuseppe De Matteo, who was kidnapped, strangled and dissolved in acid, Jan 11, 1996 after being held for 779 days. Gasparre Spatuzza also got 12 years for his part in the crime and at the Appeals trial pointed the finger at his former friends, telling what happened on Nov 23, 1993, when a commando of mafiosi, disguised as policemen, went to pick up the child while he was horse training.

Up until now, these 5 defendants had been left out of the investigation, which over the years has led to 42 convictions.

Of those hours, Spatuzza remembers everything: The screams of joy as little Giuseppe believed he was being taken to see his father, who had been in hiding and protected. As he was taken, tied up and put in a van, he realized he'd not be seeing his father again.

Spatuzza recalls, "In the beginning, Giuseppe was screaming, 'Papa, I love you, I love you.' Then we tied him up like an animal and left him in a box. He remained crying. We went back there to him with what little humanity we still had. The child was terrified. We reassured him we would meet with him again the next day. We never saw him again. Only after years did we realize Brusca still had the boy while trying to get Santino Di Matteo (Giuseppe's father) to retract his testimony. "We still hold the card, said Brusca." But it wasn't easy moving Giuseppe up and down between Palermo, Trapani, Agrigento, and Caltinessetta. At some point, they realized Santino would never retract his testimony. At this time, the boss, decided to kill Giuseppe. Weakened by the long imprisonment, the young boy died immediately. They put a rope around his neck, strangled him and put his lifeless body in acid.