Italy the Trial of the Century

A witness supports Agca's tale of conspiracy against the Pope

Escorted from his cell in Rome's Rebibbia Prison by a heavy police convoy, Mehmet Ali Agca arrived in a high-security courtroom in Rome last week, presumably to tell a jury that he had been hired by Bulgarian intelligence officials to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981. But as the 27-year-old Turk settled into his white steel cage in a former gymnasium converted to a courtroom, he had loftier matters on his mind. "I am Jesus Christ!" Agca shouted. "I am omnipotent. I announce the end of the world. All will be destroyed." The bizarre outburst in the opening moments of...

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