List of major crimes in Italy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This page presents, in a non-exhaustive manner, notorious or significant Italian criminal cases whose developments that have taken place. Types of crime include murders, rape, theft, kidnappings and other high-profile criminal trials and miscellaneous crime.

Date Place Case Summary Convictions and comments
19 July 1992 Palermo Via D'Amelio bombing 6 people were killed in a car bombing.
27 May 1993 Florence Via dei Georgofili bombing 5 people were killed in a car bombing.
27 July 1993 Milan Via Palestro massacre 5 people were killed in a car bombing.
19 May 2012 Brindisi Brindisi school bombing 5 people were injured in a bombing, one was killed.[1]
3 February 2018 Macerata Macerata shooting 6 people were injured in a shooting.
20 March 2019 Crema 2019 Italian bus hijack A school bus was hijacked by its driver Ousseynou Sy, who attempted to set it on fire. Sy, whose origins are Senegalese, said his motive was to avenge the deaths of African migrants in the Mediterranean Sea. Police freed the children before he set the vehicle on fire.[2]

Missing person cases

Date Place Case Summary Convictions and comments
16 September 1970 Palermo Disappearance of Mauro De Mauro An investigative journalist with the left-leaning newspaper L'Ora in Palermo who disappeared.[3] 2006 trial but the mystery remains.[4]
7 May 1983 Rome Disappearance of Mirella Gregori A 15-year-old girl who went missing in Rome.[5] Unsolved as of 2026
22 June 1983 Rome Disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi A 15-year-old girl who went missing in Rome.[6] Unsolved as of 2026
12 September 1993 Potenza Murder of Elisa Claps A 16-year-old who went missing in Potenza.[7] Danilo Restivo murdered her and hid the body in the Chiesa della Santissima Trinità.[8][7]
10 August 1996 Monte Faito, Naples Disappearance of Angela Celentano A 3-year-old child who went missing on a trip organised by the Evangelical Community of Vico Equense.[9] Unsolved as of 2026

Individual murders

20th century

Date Place Case Summary Convictions and comments
September 1944 Holohan murder case
May 1988 Calabria Gruppo del Rosario The leader of the apocalyptic cult, Lidia Naccarato, was arrested along with 35 members, following the brutal murder of a fellow member.[10]
10 July 1991 Rome Murder of Alberica Filo della Torre A 42-year-old housewife was murdered in her own home.[11] Solved in 2011 when DNA evidence pointed to Manuel Winston Reyes, a Filipino former employee of the family.[12] He was released on 11 October 2021.
6 May 1996 Chiavari Murder of Nada Cella A 25-year-old woman who was found dead at her place of work on the morning.[13] The case was solved in 2026.[14]

21st century

Date Place Case Summary Convictions and comments
21 February 2001 Novi Ligure Novi Ligure murder A 41-year-old woman and her 11-year-old son were stabbed to death by her daughter and her boyfriend.[15] The daughter Erika De Nardo blamed the murders on immigrants but she and her boyfriend were suspected.[15] Both were subsequently tried for the murders and convicted. They were sentenced to 16 and 14 years in prison.[16]
2 March 2006 Parma Murder of Tommaso Onofri A 16-month old baby, was kidnapped from his family home in order to obtain a ransom, in the mistaken belief that his parents had access to significant economic resources; however, the kidnappers killed the child a few minutes after the kidnapping.[17] The true nature of the crime emerged about a month later, when bricklayer Mario Alessi, who had previously worked at the Onofri house, and his accomplice Salvatore Raimondi, confessed to the crime and indicated to police the place where the body had been hidden. Together with Alessi and Raimondi, the bricklayer's partner, Antonella Conserva, was also sentenced.
1 November 2007 Perugia Murder of Meredith Kercher A 21-year-old British woman who was murdered in her bedroom while on student-exchange from the University of Leeds.[18] Amanda Knox was convicted in a trial which was highly publicized between Knox's conviction in 2009 and her acquittal two years later.[19] In October 2008, Rudy Guede was found guilty for the sexual assault and murder of Meredith Kercher and was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment.[20]
11 November 2007 Civitella in Val di Chiana Murder of Gabriele Sandri A football fan was shot and killed by a police officer.[21] What followed were nationwide scenes of violence.[22]
26 August 2010 Avetrana Murder of Sarah Scazzi Fifteen-year-old Sarah Scazzi was strangled by her cousin Sabrina Misseri and her aunt Cosima Serrano, who then hid the body together with her father Michele Misseri, staging a kidnapping by a third party.[23]
29 November 2014 Santa Croce Camerina Murder of Lorys Stival An 8-year-old boy, Lorys Andrea Stival, was strangled by his mother who staged a kidnapping.[24] Veronica Panarello was definitively sentenced to thirty years in prison for the murder of her son.[25]
9 January 2016 Florence Murder of Ashley Ann Olsen A 35-year-old American woman living in Florence who was strangled in her apartment in January 2016.[26] Cheik Tidiane Diaw, a 27-year-old Senegalese national who recently entered Italy as an illegal immigrant, was convicted of murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.[27]
29 January 2018 Macerata Murder of Pamela Mastropietro An 18-year-old woman disappeared and was found dismembered inside a suitcase the next day.[28] Innocent Oseghale, a Nigerian drug dealer, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with 18 months of isolation in May 2019.[29]
5 March 2018 Florence Murder of Idy Diene A Senegalese market trader was shot dead. The shooter, who was identified as Roberto Pirrone, turned himself in to the police.[30] While the police have deemed that the shooting was not racially or politically motivated, local African immigrant communities have held protests, citing the murder as prejudiced.[30]
18 October 2018 Rome Murder of Desirée Mariottini A 16-year-old girl who was drugged, raped and murdered by African migrants.[31] Four men were convicted.
26 July 2019 Rome Murder of Mario Cerciello Rega An Italian police officer who was murdered by two American students visiting Rome.[32] In July 2024, after a retrial ordered by the Corte di Cassazione in 2023,[33] their conviction was upheld by the Court of Appeal [34] with reduced sentences of 15 years 2 months and 11 years 4 months respectively.[35]
25 August 2019 Carpaneto Piacentino Murder of Elisa Pomarelli A 28-year-old woman who was murdered in a case which resulted in great indignation, public demonstrations, and stimulated the cultural debate on homophobia and violence against women in Italy.[36][37] Massimo Sebastiani stood trial and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.[38]
29 December 2020 Frassilongo Murder of Agitu Ideo Gudeta An Ethiopian farmer, entrepreneur and environmentalist was murdered.[39]
29 July 2022 Civitanova Marche Murder of Alika Ogorchukwu A 39-year-old Nigerian street vendor who was murdered.[40]
27 May 2023 Senago Murder of Giulia Tramontano A 29-year-old woman who was murdered.[41]
11 November 2023 Veneto Murder of Giulia Cecchettin A 22-year-old woman who was murdered.[42]

Mass murder

Serial killers

Dates Place Case Summary Convictions and comments
1971–1989 Udine Monster of Udine An unidentified serial killer who killed at least four victims between the years 1971 and 1989.[43] Perpetrator never identified
1984–1985 Torre Canne Norbert Poehlke A German police officer who killed killed his wife and eldest son before fleeing the country with his younger son. He stayed on the run for three days before killing his child and himself while hiding in Italy. Suicide
1985–1995 Modena Monster of Modena An unidentified serial killer who murdered at least eight prostitutes and drug addicts from 1985 to 1995.[44] Perpetrator never identified
1996 Merano Ferdinand Gamper A serial killer from South Tyrol killed six people in Merano in February and March 1996.[45] Gamper committed suicide before he was convicted.
1998–2004 Milan Beasts of Satan A group of Italian serial killers, who were tried and convicted of a series of suspected Satanic ritual murders between 1998 and 2004.[46] Multiple convictions

Unsolved murder cases

References

See also

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