Accused of murdering three policemen and three civilians in France, Robert Succo was apprehended by Italian authorities in the spring of 1988. Confined at Vincenza, he was examined by psychiatrists who diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic and a danger to society. In May, a judge found Succo incapable of comprehending the charges or participating in his own defense, thus paving the way for committal to an asylum. Before the next logical step could be taken, Succo played his hole card, suffocating himself with a plastic bag on the night of May 23, 1988. His death was ruled a suicide.