Samarate massacre
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4:00 – 5:00 (approximately)
| Samarate massacre | |
|---|---|
 Samarate | |
| Location | Samarate, Italy |
| Date | 4 May 2022 4:00 – 5:00 (approximately) |
Attack type | Multiple homicide, attempted homicide |
| Weapon | Hammer, screwdriver, knife, drill |
| Deaths | 2 |
| Victims | 2 |
| Perpetrator | Alessandro Maja |
| Motive | Unknown (presumably emotional disturbance due to financial problems) |
The Samarate massacre is a case of familicide that occurred in Samarate, in the province of Varese, Italy on 4 May 2022.[1]
The massacre was carried out by Alessandro Maja (born Milan in 1964), a surveyor who, on the night between 3 and 4 May 2022, killed his wife Stefania Pivetta and their daughter Giulia, who was only 16 years old, with a hammer. His twenty-four-year-old son Nicolò, attacked with a drill and screwdriver, miraculously survived and was left disabled by the serious injuries he sustained.[2] The perpetrator allegedly attempted suicide after the massacre.[3] The motive, never fully clarified, was attributed to the state of emotional turmoil in which Maja found himself due to financial problems. The crime took place in the Maja family villa, where the family had lived since 1999.[4]
On 12 June 2024, the Supreme Court of Cassation confirmed the life sentence for Alessandro Maja, a sentence already pronounced in the first instance.
At dawn on 4 May 2022, around 6:00 am, screams for help were heard from the family home at 32 Via Torino in Samarate, alarming the entire neighborhood. From the open front door, the neighbours saw Alessandro Maja lying on the ground, in his underwear, covered in blood. Only his legs were visible, half of his body was inside the house and half outside. During the first call to 118, only an ambulance was requested, but at a certain point Maja started screaming "I killed them all, bastards!".[5] After these words, the carabinieri were also called. It was soon discovered that Maja, with several objects (hammer, screwdriver and knife) had fatally wounded his wife Stefania Pivetta, a 57-year-old hairdresser, and his daughter Giulia Maja while they were sleeping. He then went down to the garage to attempt suicide, but without success. His son Nicolò, although in desperate conditions, managed to survive the attack. He was saved only because, before being attacked, he woke up and managed to resist and shout to attract the attention of the neighbours.
The reconstruction of the crime revealed that Stefania Pivetta was the first to die. She was killed on the sofa at home (where she was sleeping that night because she had contracted COVID-19) with a hammer blow to the skull and a stab to the throat, dying without even realizing it.[6] Maja then went up to the 2nd floor to her daughter Giulia's room, who was killed with a single shot to the head. Her eldest son Nicolò was the last to suffer Alessandro Maja's murderous fury, from which he miraculously survived.