Man 'slapped to death by mates'
From: AAP By Alyssa Braithwaite
March 06, 2006
A YOUNG Sydney man whose housemates handcuffed and continually slapped him "to calm him down" died after a blow to the stomach, a Sydney court has been told.
Antoni Rolfi, 19, died on December 20, 2000 at his Fairfield home in Sydney's west after friends allegedly tried to restrain him during a violent outburst.
Alan Tekely and Craig Nagle today appeared in Downing Centre District Court on charges of feloniously slaying their former housemate and unlawfully imprisoning him.
Mr Tekely's wife Rozlyn Tekely is also charged with the unlawful imprisonment of Mr Rolfi.
The court was told Mr Rolfi had been acting strangely in the days leading up to his death, at one stage walking into the house naked and carrying a box of bottles and fruit.
Crown prosecutor Lou Lungo said that in an interview with police in 2000, Alan Tekely admitted he hit Mr Rolfi in the stomach, and said he had slapped him about six times to get him to calm down.
"He was talking like a three-year-old boy", Mr Tekely told police, and "it was as if he was in a trance".
The court heard evidence from Mr Rolfi's brother Shannon, who had also been living in the Fairfield house.
Shannon said on the day before his brother's death, Mr Nagle had found him sitting in the bathroom with a loaded spear gun in his lap.
He said the following day, he had left work to go home and help deal with his brother, who was yelling and thrashing about angrily.
Shannon said he struggled to restrain him before someone handed him a pair of handcuffs and said "here, use these".
He said he thought his brother had threatened to kill them all.
Shannon said he slapped his brother a couple of times in the face to get him to talk to him.
"(It was just) a couple of light taps in the face to get his attention," he said.
Mr Lungo said the post mortem showed Mr Rolfi had died from a forceful blow to the stomach, and had revealed bruising and rubbing on his wrists, consistent with injuries caused by struggling in handcuffs.
Mr Rolfi's mother Suzanne Rolfi told the court her son had been diagnosed with ADHD as a child after angry and violent outbursts.
Mrs Rolfi said he would often need to be restrained during these outbursts to calm him down and stop him from hurting himself or others.
He was on medication for his condition, but stopped taking it on a daily basis when he was 15 or 16.
The trial before Judge Penelope Hock continues tomorrow.
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...-29277,00.html
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