Aldo Moro had been kidnapped by the Red Brigade, a pro Communist movement, on March 16, after a bloody shoot-out when 12 terrorists killed his 5 guards.

The Red Brigade claimed they would put Moro on trial in a People's Court, however, after a search, police couldn't find it.

After negotiations failed, and the Italian authorities had refused to release 13 Red Brigade members being held in Turin in exchange for Moro, he was allowed to send a final message to his wife:

"They have told me that they are going to kill me in a little while, I kiss you for the last time."

Moro's body was found, two days later, riddled with bullets in a car in the centre of Rome.