Patrizia's motive was a mixture of jealousy, money, and resentment towards her ex-husband. They argued that she wanted control over the Gucci estate and wanted to prevent her ex-husband from marrying Paola Franchi. The impending marriage would have cut her alimony in half, reducing her annual monetary assistance to $860,000 a year, which, according to her, amounted to "a bowl of lentils". The hitman, debt-ridden pizzeria owner Benedetto Ceraulo, was found to have been hired by Patrizia through an intermediary named Giuseppina "Pina" Auriemma, a high-society psychic and close friend of Patrizia. Prison time In 1998, Patrizia Reggiani was sentenced to 29 years in prison for arranging the killing. She then asked that her conviction be overturned, claiming a brain tumor had affected her personality. In 2000, an appeals court in Milan upheld the conviction but reduced the sentence to 26 years. In 2000, she tried to commit suicide by hanging herself with a bed sheet, but she was found by prison guards. In 2005, despite rules against prison pets, Patrizia's legal team convinced the prison to allow her pet ferret to live with her. In October 2011, she became eligible for parole under a work-release program but refused, saying, "I've never worked in my life, and I'm certainly not going to start now." With credit for good behavior, she was released in October 2016, after 18 years in prison. In popular culture The film House of Gucci (2021) is based on Patrizia Reggiani's marriage and the murder of her ex-husband Maurizio Gucci played by Adam Driver. It was directed by Ridley Scott and stars singer and actress Lady Gaga as Reggiani. The film was announced in November 2019. In March 2021, Reggiani praised the casting of Lady Gaga in the film, saying that she looks like her, but expressed annoyance that Gaga did not meet with her before accepting the role. Gaga stated in interviews that she had no interest in "colluding" with Reggiani, but her heart "goes out to her daughters... I do care deeply that this must be very painful for them." References 1948 births Living people 20th-century Italian criminals Italian female murderers Italian socialites People from Vignola