Leonardo Cazzaniga
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Leonardo Cazzaniga | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1956 (age 69–70) |
| Other names | "Doctor Death" |
| Convictions | Murder x9 Aiding and abetting |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment |
| Details | |
| Victims | 9–15 |
Span of crimes | 2010–2014 |
| Country | Italy |
| State | Lombardy |
Date apprehended | 29 November 2016 |
| Imprisoned at | Unnamed prison in Alessandria, Piedmont |
Leonardo Cazzaniga (born 1956), known as Doctor Death (Italian: Dottor Morte), is an Italian serial killer and former anesthesiologist who murdered between nine and fifteen patients at a hospital in Saronno between 2010 and 2014, some with the help of his lover and accomplice, Laura Taroni.
Convicted in nine of the cases he was accused of, Cazzaniga was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Taroni was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment.
Between 2010 and the summer of 2014, a long series of suspicious deaths of elderly patients occurred at the Saronno Hospital.[1] These deaths were brought to the attention of the authorities at the behest of physician Clelia Leto and vice-primary physician Radu Iliescu, who had recently started noticing strange and even threatening behavior from their senior colleague, Leonardo Cazzaniga.[1]
Following the authorities' intervention, all nurses at the Saronno Hospital were questioned. This eventually led to the arrest of Cazzaniga and his lover Laura Taroni, with the latter being held for the murders of her husband, mother and father-in-law, who died between June and October 2013.[2] All three victims had received doses of drugs that were unsuitable for their conditions.[3]
According to the authorities, Cazzaniga claimed that he wanted to "ease their suffering and make death less painful" by carrying out his so-called "Cazzaniga protocol" – a term he used to administering a cocktail of drugs to his patients, consiting of a mixture of opiates, benzodiazepine and sleeping pills.[4]
Investigation and arrest
Cazzaniga was arrested on 26 November 2016, and charged with a total of 15 murders.[4] The alleged victims all died in the emergency room of the Saronno Hospital, and three of them (Massimo Guerra, Luciano Guerra, and Maria Rita Clerici) were killed with the complicity of Laura Taroni, who, from what emerged from wiretaps, killed her family to continue her extramarital affair with Cazzaniga and expressed willingness to do the same thing to her own children if needed.[4] It was later revealed that she administered a fatal dose of medication to her husband Massimo, causing his death in the process. The death was disguised as the supposed result of diabetes, with Taroni being the designated beneficiary of Massimo's life insurance policy.[3]
In addition to Cazzaniga and Taroni, police also investigated five other employees at the hospital (general manager Paolo Valentini; medical director Roberto Cosentina; medical examiner Maria Luisa Pennuto; ER director Nicola Scoppetta and oncologist Giuseppe di Luca). The five were accused of having prior knowledge of the "Cazzaniga protocol" and intentionally hampering investigations by not reporting the suspicious deaths to the authorities.[5]