The captain of a speedboat that crashed off Italy‘s Amalfi Coast and killed Bloomsbury USA president Adrienne Vaughan has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Vaughan, a 45-year-old publishing executive, died after being flung into the water during a boat ride with her husband and two kids while on vacation in 2023.
Skipper Elio Persico, 32, was sentenced to four years and nine months in jail after requesting a plea bargain on Friday, his lawyer, Liberato Mazzola, told AFP.
Persico tested positive for alcohol and cocaine in his system shortly after the collision, according to CBS News.
The speedboat collided with a larger sailboat carrying 80 guests who had been enjoying a wedding reception.
Vaughan was thrown overboard and hit the propellers, and her daughter was also flung into the water but was uninjured.
One witness, Pietro Iuzzolino, told Corriere del Mezzogiorno newspaper that the skipper of the speedboat was ‘vomiting’ and ‘gave the impression he was drunk.’
‘The sailboat was going straight ahead and so was the [speed]boat,’ said Iuzzolino, a bartender on the sailboat.
Bloomsbury USA president Adrienne Vaughan (pictured) was killed in a boat crash while on vacation with her husband and two kids in Italy in 2023
The boat’s captain, Elio Persico (pictured), 32, was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for manslaughter after testing positive for alcohol and cocaine in his system
Vaughan was thrown overboard and hit the propellers, her daughter was also flung into the water but was uninjured
‘Then suddenly [the motorboat] veered 180 degrees: there was a collision and I heard a very loud bang.
‘I saw the woman in the water being held up by her children and her husband. It was terrible.’
New York-born Vaughan had reportedly been ‘dreaming’ of her family vacation to Italy, and her husband, Mike, shared a Facebook post showing the foursome bronzed and beaming beside the Trevi Fountain and Colosseum just one day before the crash.
They were heading towards Positano on the 29-foot motorboat when their vessel slammed into the Tortuga ship in Fiordo di Furore.
Two doctors who were among the passengers on the wedding sailboat dived into the sea to help Vaughan, while a nearby vessel brought her to shore, Italian state radio said, quoting the sailboat’s captain.
But prosecutors said Vaughan died before a medical helicopter and local ambulance could take her to the hospital.
The horror crash was captured in shocking footage shot on board the Tortuga ship.
The bride and groom were seen dancing with their guests, surrounded by picturesque scenery, just moments before the music fell silent as the speedboat slammed into the side of their vessel.
The speedboat collided with a larger sailboat carrying 80 guests who had been enjoying a wedding reception
New York-born Vaughan had reportedly been ‘dreaming’ of her family vacation to Italy
Vaughan was described as a ‘beloved mother, wife, daughter, sister, niece and dear friend and colleague to many’
Horrified guests gasped and hurried to the edge to offer the family inflatables.
Vaughan graduated with an MBA from the NYU Stern School of Business before embarking on her impressive publishing career.
She went on to work for Oxford University Press, and from 2015 to 2018 for Disney Publishing Group.
Vaughan joined Bloomsbury as an executive director and COO in 2020, before being named US president of the company the following year.
When she was promoted to the prestigious position, Bloomsbury praised her for her ‘strong leadership during a challenging time.’
She was described as a ‘charismatic true leader’, by a former colleague on LinkedIn, who added: ‘She was my coach and my mentor. I loved working with her every day. It was always ready to help others.’
White said his wife was a ‘beloved mother, wife, daughter, sister, niece and dear friend and colleague to many.’
