Man In Court For Allegedly Stealing James Gandolfini's Rolex As He Lay Dying

The trial has begun of a paramedic who is alleged to have stolen James Gandolfini’s Rolex watch from his wrist as he lay dying.

The star of ‘The Sopranos’ suffered a heart attack in a hotel while on holiday in Rome in 2013, and died after being taken to a local hospital. He was 51.

Claudio Bevilacqua has now gone on trial for the theft of a $3000 Rolex Submariner, though it’s not known whether the watch was stolen from the actor’s room or whether he was wearing it when he collapsed, according to NBC News.

Bevilacqua was not present for the first hearing, at which a trial date was postponed until November.

The TV and movie world was stunned when news emerged of Gandolfini’s death on June 19, 2013.

He had been travelling in Italy with his wife, Deborah Lin, his teenage son, Michael, and daughter Liliana, ahead of an appearance at the Taormina Film Festival in Sicily.

He was discovered having collapsed by his son Michael, who then alerted staff at the Boscolo Exedra Hotel.

Following an autopsy, the actor was deemed to have died from natural causes.

Speaking about his father at the Toronto Film Festival in 2014, where his final film role 'The Drop’ was being screening, Michael said: “He didn’t want to be Tony Soprano; he wanted to go on and push himself more, try to get harder, get different.

“I wanted the world and everyone just to know he was more than just an actor.”

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