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The terrorist, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in July 1981, has offered detailed descriptions of the Bulgarians' personal lives, even mentioning Antonov's fascination with his collection of liquor miniatures. But Agca also revised, retracted and contradicted many of his statements. As Martella said last week, "Agca is an unpredictable person capable of anything."
Soft-spoken and courtly, Martella, 50, quietly insisted that his only job was to determine whether it was proper to hold a trial on this "extremely complex" matter. He was at pains to emphasize that his document is only an accusation, not a judgment. One avenue Martella discreetly refused to explore in public was the authorship of the conspiracy. A government prosecutor last June sent Martella a report, which was leaked to the press, asserting that "some political figure of great power," presumably in the Soviet Union, watched the rise of Poland's Solidarity labor movement and, "mindful of the vital needs of the Eastern bloc," decided that the Polish-born Pontiff must be killed.
Asked about that assertion, Martella would only say, "I limited myself to the facts."
—By Roberto Suro/Rome