Francesco Passalacqua
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"The Calabria Killer"
Aggravated assault
Illegal possession of weaponry
Theft
- Life imprisonment plus 24 years imprisonment (2000)
- 5 years imprisonment (2024)
Francesco Passalacqua | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968 (age 56–57) |
| Other names | "The Riviera dei Cedri Serial Killer" "The Calabria Killer" |
| Convictions | Murder x4 Aggravated assault Illegal possession of weaponry Theft |
| Criminal penalty |
|
| Details | |
| Victims | 4 |
Span of crimes | 1992–1997 |
| Country | Italy |
| State | Calabria |
Date apprehended | September 1997 |
| Imprisoned at | Dozza Prison, Bologna, Metropolitan City of Bologna |
Francesco Passalacqua (born 1968), known as The Riviera dei Cedri Serial Killer (Italian: Serial killer della Riviera dei Cedri), is an Italian serial killer who murdered four men in rural Cosenza from 1992 to 1997. Convicted for these crimes, he was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 24 years imprisonment.
In 2021, he was granted parole, but was re-arrested for an attempted murder three years later and returned to prison.
Born in Scalea in 1968, Passalacqua is the third of six siblings and grew up in a very poor peasant family. His childhood was troubled due to the death of his mother, and at around the age of 20, Passalacqua began committing thefts and assaulting people.[1]
Sometime in the early 1990s, Passalacqua married a 19-year-old local woman, who would later aid investigators during investigations into his murders.[1]
Murders
Mario Montaspro
On 3 April 1992, Passalacqua and a 16-year-old acquaintance were invited to have dinner with 45-year-old truck driver Mario Montaspro at his house in Scalea.[2] The pair noticed that the man had a lot of money, deciding to rob him later on in the night. To do so, they left the front door slightly ajar after leaving, and then returned near midnight.[3]
By that time, Montaspro was asleep – using this to their advantage, Passalacqua and the accomplice dropped a concrete block on the man's head, killing him in the process.[3] They then searched for the money, but as they were unable to find it, they instead stole a few chains and watches.[3]
Montaspro's body was found on the following day by the cleaning lady, who had been asked to check on the man at the behest of Montaspro's sister, Maria.[3] After finding the body, she immediately alerted the authorities, who quickly identified Passalacqua and the teenage boy as the prime suspects thanks to the detailed witness accounts of several people who had seen them enter the house.[3]
Soon afterwards, arrest warrants were issued for both of the perpetrators, who were both arrested in the countryside while attempting to sell the stolen goods.[2] Passalacqua was found to be carrying one of the chains and watches on his person.[3]
Following his arrest, he was kept in a detention center for several years, but was eventually released, as investigators failed to gather sufficient evidence.[3]
Move to Verbicaro and further murders
Some time after this ordeal, Passalacqua moved to the small town of Verbicaro, where he had acquired multiple houses and cellars by unknown means. Local villagers were wary of him due to his imposing presence and insistence on staring at people for not apparent reason.[1] News outlets would later report that in the midst of the murders, Passalacqua would intentionally attend rallies and vocally voice his support for measures the mayor had taken to apprehend the killer, seemingly out of apparent amusement.[3]
On 16 March 1997, Passalacqua broke into the home of 59-year-old farmer Salvatore Belmonte in Santa Maria del Cedro to steal money.[4] When he heard Belmonte re-entering the house, Passalacqua attacked him in the garden and pushed him to the ground, after which he stomped on his neck until he broke it. After killing the man, he stole 30 rabbits, a rifle, and a pistol.[1] The sudden and violent murder quickly led to the spread of rumors amongst the villagers, who shared stories of a supposed hitman being hired by powerful people to kill vulnerable farmers.[1]
A month later, on 16 April, a woman residing in Verbicaro found the body of her 63-year-old husband, shepherd Francesco Picarelli, inside their countryside home.[3] An autopsy confirmed that the man had been shot in the temple and the heart, with the bullets being of a 7.65 caliber. On 28 April, another shepherd, 72-year-old Vito Michele Resia, was also murdered at his sheepfold near Verbicaro, with the killer shooting him three times in the face.[3]