December 2, 2025 • 23 mins
A suspected serial killer puts an innocent man behind bars, and terrorizes Italy as police cannot stop the attacks. Is the Monster of Venice more than one person?
Thank you Time Magazine, People, Biography, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Cinemaholic, The Deep Dark and Scary and Absolute Crime YouTube channels, Netflix and Wikipedia for information contributing to today’s story.
Written by Frederick Crook - check out our other collaboration WRAITHWORKS - Wraithworks at Amazon https://www.amzn.com/dp/B07HXNCW4L (audiobook narrated by John Lordan) Also avaible on iTunes: https://apple.co/2OFXb8L
Do you have any comments, or a case you’d like to suggest? You’ll find a comment form and case submission link at LordanArts.com.
This is not intended to act as a means of proving or disproving anything related to the investigation. It is a conversation about the current known facts and theories being discussed. Everyone directly or indirectly referred to is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
LordanArts 2025
Thank you Time Magazine, People, Biography, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Cinemaholic, The Deep Dark and Scary and Absolute Crime YouTube channels, Netflix and Wikipedia for information contributing to today’s story.
Written by Frederick Crook - check out our other collaboration WRAITHWORKS - Wraithworks at Amazon https://www.amzn.com/dp/B07HXNCW4L (audiobook narrated by John Lordan) Also avaible on iTunes: https://apple.co/2OFXb8L
Do you have any comments, or a case you’d like to suggest? You’ll find a comment form and case submission link at LordanArts.com.
This is not intended to act as a means of proving or disproving anything related to the investigation. It is a conversation about the current known facts and theories being discussed. Everyone directly or indirectly referred to is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
LordanArts 2025
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Criminal justice can sometimes be slow to find and capture
the monsters that we call serial killers, and that brings
us to a historical case from Italy. From nineteen thirty
until well into the nineteen eighties, Italy's criminal justice system
ran on a purely inquisitorial model. An investigative magistrate a
judge didn't just preside over a case, but actively led
(00:43):
the investigations into it. They would question witnesses and suspects,
and they would do so in secret. The investigating judge
also held major powers in directing evidence gathering, with these
investigations frequently being very long and a large the opaque process.
They left the trial itself often feeling like a formality,
(01:05):
since all the facts that would be presented were essentially
discovered by a judge during this secret process. How could
you defend yourself in this situation? During this time, justice
was a hammer and people were the nails. Legal reform
wouldn't come until the late nineteen eighties, when a new
code of criminal procedure began to shift away from that
older system. We don't really understand the extent of how
(01:28):
inaccurate criminal justice in Italy was. We have no real
stats or tracking on how many people were wrongfully convicted,
because the systemic tracking of that information wouldn't begin until
the nineteen nineties. But this seriously mysterious story might give
you some small idea of the issues with this form
of criminal justice, especially when it's trying to track down
(01:50):
a serial killer. On August twenty first, nineteen sixty eight,
a monster emerged in Senia, Italy, a small community within
the metropolitan city of Florence in the Tuscany region. Antonio Lobianco,
a twenty nine year old masonry worker, was shot to
death while sitting in his car with his girlfriend, thirty
two year old Barbara Locchi. Sleeping in the back seat
(02:13):
was Barbara's son, Natalinomele, six years old. Barbara Locchi was
married to an older man, Stefanomele, and had a reputation
for engaging in extensive extramarital activities. Police presumed it was
for this reason that Barbara's body had been mutilated after
her death in a very graphic and sexually explicit manner.
(02:34):
Stefano was arrested for the murder, convicted, and sentenced just
over six years later. On September the fourteenth, nineteen seventy four,
A similar crime is carried out in Borgo San Lorenzo,
a small community twelve miles northeast of the city of Florence.
A teenage couple, Pascuale Gentilcore nineteen years old and Stefania Pettini,
(02:57):
eighteen years old, were shot and killed by a volley
of twenty two caliber rounds. Stefania's body was mutilated after
her death in ways very similar to Barbara's, and she
had also been stabbed nearly one hundred times by an
ice pick and a screwdriver. June sixth, nineteen eighty one,
in the community of Mosciano di Sandici, the bodies of
(03:20):
thirty year old Giovanni Fogi and twenty one year old
Carmela Denuccio were found by police lying on either side
of the road near Giovanni's Fiat. Both victims were shot
multiple times, and just like the previous victims, a twenty
two caliber firearm was used. Investigators were focused on something
they noticed about many of the shell casings that they
(03:41):
found at these crime scenes. The head stamp was marked
with an H. Carmela's body was again graphically mutilated in
sexually explicit ways with a killer keeping some parts of her.
The news of this frightening and inhumane crime had little
time to spread via newspapers when when a known peeping
tom was arrested. Enzo Salvatore, thirty years old, a repeat
(04:05):
offender sometimes known as Spiletti, somehow knew some of the
details about this latest murder. With him in custody for
a few months, the Italian people felt relief that the
perpetrator was finally caught. However, while Spiletti was in prison
and awaiting trial, the monster struck again, and apparently he
also called Spiletti's wife to let her know that her
(04:27):
husband would be coming home soon. It was October twenty second,
nineteen eighty one when twenty six year old Stefano Baldi
and twenty four year old Susanna Cambi were found murdered again.
Twenty two caliber bullets were used to kill them, and
Susanna's body was sexually mutilated, with parts being removed from
the scene, but the killer left behind another clue. Police
(04:50):
found a bootprint embedded in the dirt road. It was
a size forty four, which in the US is a
size ten. Enzo Spoletti Salvatore as the mom unster promised,
was eventually released from prison. The following year, on the
night of June nineteenth, another couple was assailed by small
caliber gunfire. This time the couple was inside their car
(05:11):
at the side of a road. Twenty two year old
automobile mechanic Pollo Mayonarti and twenty year old Antonella Migliororini
were attacked after being intimate in the back seat. Polo
was found alive. He would tell police that from the
driver's seat he saw a figure approaching the car. Frightened,
he frantically started the motor and put the car in reverse,
(05:33):
but he backed into a ditch. Stuck, the two were
sprayed with bullets and left to die. However, with the
cars stuck in plain view of the road and unable
to be moved, the killer or killers abandoned the mutilation
of the female victim and fled. Polo died shortly after
giving his statement. With an anonymous letter written to police,
(05:54):
detectives were directed to look again at the nineteen seventy
four killings of Gentilcore and Pettini, which were at that
time still unsolved. This led investigators to look further back
and into a case that they believed was solved the
nineteen sixty eight Barbara Locchi case. They discovered that the
twenty two caliber shell casings had thankfully been kept in
(06:16):
the case file. Two Sardinian men were soon implicated and arrested,
one of which was the supposed owner of the twenty
two caliber pistol used in all the crimes thus far.
His name was Francesco Vinci, and the other man was
his brother, Salvatore. Both men were also former lovers of
Barbara Locchi, so it was surmised that the brothers acted
(06:38):
out in revenge. Once this discovery was made, it exonerated Steffanomele,
who had been in prison since his conviction. With the
murderers now in prison, Italy could finally breathe easy right. Frustratingly,
another double murder would occur, confusing the situation even further.
It was September ninth, nineteen eighty three, when the bodies
(07:00):
of two German male tourists, Horstmeyer and jenzuv Rusche were
found inside of Vulkswagen van. They had been shot to
death with that same twenty two caliber handgun. It was
thought by detectives that the men were homosexuals, and that
the shooter may have mistakend Genzoov for being a female
since he had long blonde hair. From this shooting, detectives
(07:22):
also determined that the trigger man was taller than previously
suspected due to the trajectory of the bullets fired into
the van. As a result of this double murder, Francesco
Vinci and his brother were released from prison, though it
said that this didn't happen for approximately another year. Then
the monster went quiet for a time. In July of
(07:57):
nineteen eighty four, Claudio Stefani and Pio Rontini were ambushed
by a gunman. While Claudia was killed, Pia managed to
make a short run for it, possibly while the shooter
paused to reload. She did not get very far before
more gunfire brought her down. Once killed, her body was
mutilated like the others, with removed parts not being found
(08:19):
at the scene. Detectives found that Pio worked at a
bar in the Vikillo train station. When interviewed, the bar
owner stated that a strange man with a very large
ring on his finger had been staring at Pia and
Claudio while he sat at the bar drinking. Only a
vague physical description of the man was provided A year later.
In September of nineteen eighty five, two more victims were found.
(08:42):
A French couple, Jean Michel Krevitchvilli and Nadine Moriot, were
camping inside their tent when they were attacked. Even though
he was shot, Jean Michel managed to get out of
the tent and run for a short distance before the
killer caught up with them, bringing him down by stabbing
him repeatedly. The killer hid Jean Michel's body in the
nearby underbrush and then returned to the tent to mutilate Nadine.
(09:06):
Her body was left inside the tent. It seems that
police badly mishandled this crime scene. Nadine's body was taken
out of the tent prior to the forensics team's arrival,
and there was carelessness in combing the surrounding area for clues.
Spent casings featuring the now famous h were even found
on the scene. Some thirty years later, police also overlooked
(09:29):
discarded and bloodied surgical gloves, though thankfully those had been
found days after the crime. In the following months, the
Monster of Florence would taunt police detectives a slice of
Nadine Moriot was mailed to Celia de Lamonica, the investigating magistrate. However,
the monster had no idea that Deleamonica had been taken
(09:51):
off the case. Letters were sent to other investigating magistrates,
each of these envelopes containing a spent twenty two casing
emblazoned with the telltale H mark, stuffed inside a surgical glove.
The letters accompanying the casings threatened these magistrates with murder.
The Carabineri, or Italian military police that oversaw law enforcement,
(10:13):
gathered a long list of suspects, one of which was
arrested and interrogated. He was a violent criminal named Pietro Paciani.
Paciani murdered a man who was having an affair with
his fiance back in nineteen fifty one. He then attacked
and sexually assaulted his fiancee. He would be imprisoned until
nineteen sixty four for those crimes. However, the mo for
(10:36):
the Monster of Florence didn't match up well with Paciani's methods.
The monster killed from a distance and mutilated the female
victim after death. It was widely agreed amongst investigators that
Pacciani would not have murdered his victim beforehand, and would
have carried out his sexual assault first. Another man, Gian
(10:56):
Piero Vigilante, was thoroughly investigated. He had served in the
Foreign Legion, where he was trained to be an effective
assassin and was a known acquaintance of Pietro Pacciani. During
the search of his home, twenty two caliber ammunition bearing
the h on the case was found. Further, police located
a collection of newspaper clippings featuring the Monster of Florence's murders.
(11:21):
Doctor Francesco Narducci was another suspect. Shockingly, doctor Narducci had
gone missing while on his boat, only to be found
drowned on October thirteenth, nineteen eighty five, one month after
the last victims of the Monster of Florence were discovered.
The Italian government sought out the help of the United States,
specifically the FBI. In nineteen eighty nine, an FBI analysis
(11:44):
report surmised that the Monster of Florence was a lone male,
a native of the region, most likely had military experience,
and was an extreme hater of women. Further, he likely
suffered from some form of impotency. The profile add that
the monster enjoyed preying on couples. His choice of weapons
and his methods were almost ritualistic, as if the murderer
(12:07):
were possibly driven by religious motivations. With the Monster of
Florence having gone silent since nineteen eighty five, the investigation
turned cold. That is until nineteen ninety two, when another
anonymous letter was received implicating Pietro Pacciani as the monster.
Pacciani had been convicted in nineteen eighty seven of spousal
(12:28):
abuse of his wife and daughters. His residence was searched
again and a twenty two caliber bullet was found buried
in his garden. Additionally, a journal containing watercolor art was found.
Detectives claimed that this belonged to the German victims Meyer
and Rush. Paciani was charged with the murders, and, in
a questionable course of action, the trial was televised. The
(12:52):
media presence at the trial turned the proceedings into a circus,
sensationalizing the event as if to convince the Italian people
that Paciani, a truly despicable sexual predator, was indeed the
Monster of Florence and the public was now finally safe. Strangely,
those involved with the trial, prosecutors and defenders alike, started
(13:15):
receiving a massive amount of more anonymous letters, some of
which were confessions that the writer was the monster, others
that claimed to have valuable information leading to the real monster,
while still others contained death threats. Paciani's own wife and
daughters testified to as violent nature. While the defense attorneys
claimed that the bullet found in the garden's dirt was
(13:37):
not decayed enough to have spent years there, Paciani claimed
that the watercolor book was found in a garbage can.
The trial asted through nineteen ninety four, when the court
handed down the verdict of guilty for seven out of
the eight murders, Paciani was given fourteen consecutive life sentences.
Paciani was not convicted of the first murder, however, the
(13:58):
killings of Lo Biyanki and Lochi in nineteen sixty eight. Interestingly,
as the spent shell casings had been improperly kept in
baggies pinned to the case file, they could be compared
with the more current casings. Typically, according to Italian law,
this evidence would have been kept elsewhere and destroyed along
with the murder weapon upon an obtained conviction, Since they
(14:21):
were still available to be scrutinized, Makaylay Giottari, a newly
appointed chief of the Florence Police, found that the more
recent casings indicated that the weapon was heavily worn, and
this was unlike what was found on the casings from
nineteen sixty eight. His conclusion was that there was more
than one gun used, but it is worth pointing out
that some of these murders are spaced by many years.
(14:43):
Could it be that it was the same gun, with
the heavywear occurring over the course of seventeen years. Further,
it was later alleged and strongly implied during Pacciani's appeal,
that the bullet found in his garden had been planted
by police investigators. As for the H stamp on the casings,
that was a manufacturer's mark for Winchester Western. In fact,
(15:06):
some bullets recovered from the crime scenes differed greatly, with
some of the projectiles consisting of lead ball and others
being jacketed in copper. In a move that stunned Italy,
Pietro Pacciani was acquitted and released after his first appeal.
That was not an outcome that Chief Giotari wished for.
He was certain that the man was guilty, but had accomplices,
(15:29):
Giotari pushed on, Determined to put this case right, He
continued to investigate Pacciani's close friends, including one man named
Giancarlo Loti. Loti stated that he had witnessed Pacciani and
another mutual friend, Mario Vanni, carrying out the last of
the Monster of Florence murders in nineteen eighty five. Vanni
(15:50):
was actually a witness during Paciani's criminal trial, stating only
that Pacciani and himself were snack buddies who would meet
at a local bar regularly along with Lodi and others.
Giutari thought these friends were either the accomplices he knew
must have existed, or they at least had the information
that he needed. Giotari had phones tapped, men followed, and
(16:13):
more witnesses uncovered. Through these phone call recordings, he learned
a lot. Lodi stated that the gang would look for
potential victims like the nineteen eighty four killings of Claudio
Stefanacci and Pia Orontini. He admitted to being the one
in the railroad station bar that had scouted Pia on
the night that she and her boyfriend were killed. Loti
(16:34):
went further, stating that a fourth man was present during
that double homicide. It was the doctor of the group, Narducci,
that had chased down Stefanacci and stabbed him from behind.
Lodi inferred that if not for doctor Francesco Narducci, then
a survivor of the murders could have unraveled everything. Gian
Carlo Lodi also said that when Francesco Vinci was in
(16:57):
jail for the nineteen eighty one murders of Baldy and Camby,
Lodi had been the one to shoot the two German
tourists to death in the van, leading the police to
believe that they had imprisoned the wrong man and eventually
set him free. Lodi also said that he was blackmailed
into being the trigger man by Pacciani, who threatened to
expose him publicly. However, it must be noted that the
(17:18):
facts in Lodi's story differed with almost each telling, and
he contradicted himself constantly. For instance, when asked where the
German men were sitting while in the Volkswagon at the
time of their murder, Lodi said that they were in
the front seats. In reality, the bodies of Mayor and
Rush were found lying in the back of the van
(17:38):
But just when one thinks that the case of the Monster,
or rather Monsters of Florence could not be more convoluted,
the testimony of Lucciano Malatesta came to attention and quickly
gained credibility. Malatesta alleged that doctor Francesco Narducci, Pietro Pacciani,
Giancarlo Loti, and Mario Alvani were all members of a
(18:02):
satanic cult that was hidden in plain sight, a theory
which proved highly controversial but was embraced by investigators. Luciano
referred to this group of men as a gang, and
the neighborhood generally agreed, though as an adult during Pacciani's trial,
Luciano could not convince anyone to come forward to testify.
It is also noted, most heinously that the removed female
(18:25):
body parts of all of the victims of the Monsters
of Florence were allegedly left for doctor Narducci to be
used in satanic rituals. Luciano Malatesta's story goes further, linking
this satanic cult to some of Florence's elite, wealthiest citizens,
and that this cult was active since the late nineteen sixties,
(18:46):
but before Pietro Pacciani could be retried for the Monster
of Florence murders. He died in nineteen ninety eight of
a possible heart attack. It was the night before his
trial was to begin, and it's said that he was
terrified that he would be murdered to protect the rest
of the cult members, and he barricaded himself in his house.
Pietro Pacciani was found dead lying in a hallway with
(19:09):
his pants down. A drug was found in his bloodstream,
a poison to those with a heart condition like Pacciani's.
His own attorney would later state in hush tones that
Pacciani was indeed murdered. It seemed that Pietro Pacciani may
have been correct about his demise. In the weeks leading
up to his second indictment, prostitutes who are said to
(19:30):
have taken part in the Satanic rituals were found dead
in rapid succession. Francesco Vinci was found burned to death
in a hog tiede position, stuffed into the trunk of
his car. One supposed member of the cult was found
hung in his jail cell. Another burned to death in
an apparent automobile accident, perishing along with her three year
old son. Geotari is certain that these deaths are connected
(19:54):
to the cult, but proving it is another thing. Entirely.
His witnesses have begun to die off, and it seems
that whomever was orchestrating these killings was protecting those at
the very top despite the sudden lack of witnesses. Giancarlo
Loti and Mario Vanni were both convicted of a portion
of the Monster of Florence's serial murders in two thousand
(20:16):
and one, with Loti given twenty eight years in prison
and Vanni sentenced to life. Giancarlo served only a short time,
passing away behind bars in two thousand and two. Mario
followed suit. In two thousand and nine, Still the case
of the Monster of Florence lingers, many mysterious phone calls
were made to those remaining participants of the cult's activities.
(20:38):
One prosecutor stated that an inexperienced coroner had been sent
to the scene of Narducci's late death, proclaiming the cause
of death as drowning, though no autopsy was ever performed.
It wouldn't be until June of two thousand and two
that some answers would come due to an exhumation which
was ordered by Chief Giuatari's team. These findings, though hotly disputed,
(21:00):
it alleged that Narducci had been strangled to death and
that a Freemason's ceremonial apron was found with his body.
This specific evidence quickly became the key link in the
investigator's theory, connecting the killings to high level occult figures.
Does this mean that the Freemasons were involved in the
secretive Satanic rituals? Or did Freemasons commit the murder to
(21:22):
punish the doctor and to remove him from their ranks
because of his involvement in Satanism? The Monsters of Florence's
case remains enshrouded in a dark cloak to this day.
Have Giutari and other investigators and prosecutors turned a conspiracy
theory into a decade's long wild goose chase? Or are
they trying to uncover something that runs so high up
(21:44):
that they should be concerned for their own safety. If
you'd like to learn more and dive deeper into this case,
Netflix has a documentary titled Monsters of Florence that was
released back in twenty twenty, and a recent scripted series
has just been released titled Monster of Florence. Do you
have any comments or a case you'd like to suggest.
You'll find a comment form and caseubmission link at Lordenarts
(22:07):
dot com. Thank you, Time Magazine, People, Biography, The New
York Times, The Guardian, The Cinemahlic, The Deep, Dark and
Scary and Absolute Crime YouTube channels, Netflix, and Wikipedia for
information contributing to today's story. This episode was written by
Frederick Crook, edited by John Lorden and produced by lord Arts.
If you appreciated today's episode, please check out the novel Wraithworks,
(22:30):
another collaboration between Frederick Crook and myself. It's available in
hard coffee or audiobook format. You can find more information
about Wraithworks at Lordenarts dot com or by searching for
it on Amazon. Thank you to our audience here for
the live recording session hosted on the YouTube channel Lorden
Art's Studio two Special. Thanks to Seriously Mysterious Financial supporters
(22:51):
Candy Bishop, Misty Kate, Robert Martin and b Jones. Most
of all, thank you for listening. I'm John Lordon. Please
join me again next week for another case I know
you'll find seriously Mysterious
Criminal justice can sometimes be slow to find and capture
the monsters that we call serial killers, and that brings
us to a historical case from Italy. From nineteen thirty
until well into the nineteen eighties, Italy's criminal justice system
ran on a purely inquisitorial model. An investigative magistrate a
judge didn't just preside over a case, but actively led
(00:43):
the investigations into it. They would question witnesses and suspects,
and they would do so in secret. The investigating judge
also held major powers in directing evidence gathering, with these
investigations frequently being very long and a large the opaque process.
They left the trial itself often feeling like a formality,
(01:05):
since all the facts that would be presented were essentially
discovered by a judge during this secret process. How could
you defend yourself in this situation? During this time, justice
was a hammer and people were the nails. Legal reform
wouldn't come until the late nineteen eighties, when a new
code of criminal procedure began to shift away from that
older system. We don't really understand the extent of how
(01:28):
inaccurate criminal justice in Italy was. We have no real
stats or tracking on how many people were wrongfully convicted,
because the systemic tracking of that information wouldn't begin until
the nineteen nineties. But this seriously mysterious story might give
you some small idea of the issues with this form
of criminal justice, especially when it's trying to track down
(01:50):
a serial killer. On August twenty first, nineteen sixty eight,
a monster emerged in Senia, Italy, a small community within
the metropolitan city of Florence in the Tuscany region. Antonio Lobianco,
a twenty nine year old masonry worker, was shot to
death while sitting in his car with his girlfriend, thirty
two year old Barbara Locchi. Sleeping in the back seat
(02:13):
was Barbara's son, Natalinomele, six years old. Barbara Locchi was
married to an older man, Stefanomele, and had a reputation
for engaging in extensive extramarital activities. Police presumed it was
for this reason that Barbara's body had been mutilated after
her death in a very graphic and sexually explicit manner.
(02:34):
Stefano was arrested for the murder, convicted, and sentenced just
over six years later. On September the fourteenth, nineteen seventy four,
A similar crime is carried out in Borgo San Lorenzo,
a small community twelve miles northeast of the city of Florence.
A teenage couple, Pascuale Gentilcore nineteen years old and Stefania Pettini,
(02:57):
eighteen years old, were shot and killed by a volley
of twenty two caliber rounds. Stefania's body was mutilated after
her death in ways very similar to Barbara's, and she
had also been stabbed nearly one hundred times by an
ice pick and a screwdriver. June sixth, nineteen eighty one,
in the community of Mosciano di Sandici, the bodies of
(03:20):
thirty year old Giovanni Fogi and twenty one year old
Carmela Denuccio were found by police lying on either side
of the road near Giovanni's Fiat. Both victims were shot
multiple times, and just like the previous victims, a twenty
two caliber firearm was used. Investigators were focused on something
they noticed about many of the shell casings that they
(03:41):
found at these crime scenes. The head stamp was marked
with an H. Carmela's body was again graphically mutilated in
sexually explicit ways with a killer keeping some parts of her.
The news of this frightening and inhumane crime had little
time to spread via newspapers when when a known peeping
tom was arrested. Enzo Salvatore, thirty years old, a repeat
(04:05):
offender sometimes known as Spiletti, somehow knew some of the
details about this latest murder. With him in custody for
a few months, the Italian people felt relief that the
perpetrator was finally caught. However, while Spiletti was in prison
and awaiting trial, the monster struck again, and apparently he
also called Spiletti's wife to let her know that her
(04:27):
husband would be coming home soon. It was October twenty second,
nineteen eighty one when twenty six year old Stefano Baldi
and twenty four year old Susanna Cambi were found murdered again.
Twenty two caliber bullets were used to kill them, and
Susanna's body was sexually mutilated, with parts being removed from
the scene, but the killer left behind another clue. Police
(04:50):
found a bootprint embedded in the dirt road. It was
a size forty four, which in the US is a
size ten. Enzo Spoletti Salvatore as the mom unster promised,
was eventually released from prison. The following year, on the
night of June nineteenth, another couple was assailed by small
caliber gunfire. This time the couple was inside their car
(05:11):
at the side of a road. Twenty two year old
automobile mechanic Pollo Mayonarti and twenty year old Antonella Migliororini
were attacked after being intimate in the back seat. Polo
was found alive. He would tell police that from the
driver's seat he saw a figure approaching the car. Frightened,
he frantically started the motor and put the car in reverse,
(05:33):
but he backed into a ditch. Stuck, the two were
sprayed with bullets and left to die. However, with the
cars stuck in plain view of the road and unable
to be moved, the killer or killers abandoned the mutilation
of the female victim and fled. Polo died shortly after
giving his statement. With an anonymous letter written to police,
(05:54):
detectives were directed to look again at the nineteen seventy
four killings of Gentilcore and Pettini, which were at that
time still unsolved. This led investigators to look further back
and into a case that they believed was solved the
nineteen sixty eight Barbara Locchi case. They discovered that the
twenty two caliber shell casings had thankfully been kept in
(06:16):
the case file. Two Sardinian men were soon implicated and arrested,
one of which was the supposed owner of the twenty
two caliber pistol used in all the crimes thus far.
His name was Francesco Vinci, and the other man was
his brother, Salvatore. Both men were also former lovers of
Barbara Locchi, so it was surmised that the brothers acted
(06:38):
out in revenge. Once this discovery was made, it exonerated Steffanomele,
who had been in prison since his conviction. With the
murderers now in prison, Italy could finally breathe easy right. Frustratingly,
another double murder would occur, confusing the situation even further.
It was September ninth, nineteen eighty three, when the bodies
(07:00):
of two German male tourists, Horstmeyer and jenzuv Rusche were
found inside of Vulkswagen van. They had been shot to
death with that same twenty two caliber handgun. It was
thought by detectives that the men were homosexuals, and that
the shooter may have mistakend Genzoov for being a female
since he had long blonde hair. From this shooting, detectives
(07:22):
also determined that the trigger man was taller than previously
suspected due to the trajectory of the bullets fired into
the van. As a result of this double murder, Francesco
Vinci and his brother were released from prison, though it
said that this didn't happen for approximately another year. Then
the monster went quiet for a time. In July of
(07:57):
nineteen eighty four, Claudio Stefani and Pio Rontini were ambushed
by a gunman. While Claudia was killed, Pia managed to
make a short run for it, possibly while the shooter
paused to reload. She did not get very far before
more gunfire brought her down. Once killed, her body was
mutilated like the others, with removed parts not being found
(08:19):
at the scene. Detectives found that Pio worked at a
bar in the Vikillo train station. When interviewed, the bar
owner stated that a strange man with a very large
ring on his finger had been staring at Pia and
Claudio while he sat at the bar drinking. Only a
vague physical description of the man was provided A year later.
In September of nineteen eighty five, two more victims were found.
(08:42):
A French couple, Jean Michel Krevitchvilli and Nadine Moriot, were
camping inside their tent when they were attacked. Even though
he was shot, Jean Michel managed to get out of
the tent and run for a short distance before the
killer caught up with them, bringing him down by stabbing
him repeatedly. The killer hid Jean Michel's body in the
nearby underbrush and then returned to the tent to mutilate Nadine.
(09:06):
Her body was left inside the tent. It seems that
police badly mishandled this crime scene. Nadine's body was taken
out of the tent prior to the forensics team's arrival,
and there was carelessness in combing the surrounding area for clues.
Spent casings featuring the now famous h were even found
on the scene. Some thirty years later, police also overlooked
(09:29):
discarded and bloodied surgical gloves, though thankfully those had been
found days after the crime. In the following months, the
Monster of Florence would taunt police detectives a slice of
Nadine Moriot was mailed to Celia de Lamonica, the investigating magistrate. However,
the monster had no idea that Deleamonica had been taken
(09:51):
off the case. Letters were sent to other investigating magistrates,
each of these envelopes containing a spent twenty two casing
emblazoned with the telltale H mark, stuffed inside a surgical glove.
The letters accompanying the casings threatened these magistrates with murder.
The Carabineri, or Italian military police that oversaw law enforcement,
(10:13):
gathered a long list of suspects, one of which was
arrested and interrogated. He was a violent criminal named Pietro Paciani.
Paciani murdered a man who was having an affair with
his fiance back in nineteen fifty one. He then attacked
and sexually assaulted his fiancee. He would be imprisoned until
nineteen sixty four for those crimes. However, the mo for
(10:36):
the Monster of Florence didn't match up well with Paciani's methods.
The monster killed from a distance and mutilated the female
victim after death. It was widely agreed amongst investigators that
Pacciani would not have murdered his victim beforehand, and would
have carried out his sexual assault first. Another man, Gian
(10:56):
Piero Vigilante, was thoroughly investigated. He had served in the
Foreign Legion, where he was trained to be an effective
assassin and was a known acquaintance of Pietro Pacciani. During
the search of his home, twenty two caliber ammunition bearing
the h on the case was found. Further, police located
a collection of newspaper clippings featuring the Monster of Florence's murders.
(11:21):
Doctor Francesco Narducci was another suspect. Shockingly, doctor Narducci had
gone missing while on his boat, only to be found
drowned on October thirteenth, nineteen eighty five, one month after
the last victims of the Monster of Florence were discovered.
The Italian government sought out the help of the United States,
specifically the FBI. In nineteen eighty nine, an FBI analysis
(11:44):
report surmised that the Monster of Florence was a lone male,
a native of the region, most likely had military experience,
and was an extreme hater of women. Further, he likely
suffered from some form of impotency. The profile add that
the monster enjoyed preying on couples. His choice of weapons
and his methods were almost ritualistic, as if the murderer
(12:07):
were possibly driven by religious motivations. With the Monster of
Florence having gone silent since nineteen eighty five, the investigation
turned cold. That is until nineteen ninety two, when another
anonymous letter was received implicating Pietro Pacciani as the monster.
Pacciani had been convicted in nineteen eighty seven of spousal
(12:28):
abuse of his wife and daughters. His residence was searched
again and a twenty two caliber bullet was found buried
in his garden. Additionally, a journal containing watercolor art was found.
Detectives claimed that this belonged to the German victims Meyer
and Rush. Paciani was charged with the murders, and, in
a questionable course of action, the trial was televised. The
(12:52):
media presence at the trial turned the proceedings into a circus,
sensationalizing the event as if to convince the Italian people
that Paciani, a truly despicable sexual predator, was indeed the
Monster of Florence and the public was now finally safe. Strangely,
those involved with the trial, prosecutors and defenders alike, started
(13:15):
receiving a massive amount of more anonymous letters, some of
which were confessions that the writer was the monster, others
that claimed to have valuable information leading to the real monster,
while still others contained death threats. Paciani's own wife and
daughters testified to as violent nature. While the defense attorneys
claimed that the bullet found in the garden's dirt was
(13:37):
not decayed enough to have spent years there, Paciani claimed
that the watercolor book was found in a garbage can.
The trial asted through nineteen ninety four, when the court
handed down the verdict of guilty for seven out of
the eight murders, Paciani was given fourteen consecutive life sentences.
Paciani was not convicted of the first murder, however, the
(13:58):
killings of Lo Biyanki and Lochi in nineteen sixty eight. Interestingly,
as the spent shell casings had been improperly kept in
baggies pinned to the case file, they could be compared
with the more current casings. Typically, according to Italian law,
this evidence would have been kept elsewhere and destroyed along
with the murder weapon upon an obtained conviction, Since they
(14:21):
were still available to be scrutinized, Makaylay Giottari, a newly
appointed chief of the Florence Police, found that the more
recent casings indicated that the weapon was heavily worn, and
this was unlike what was found on the casings from
nineteen sixty eight. His conclusion was that there was more
than one gun used, but it is worth pointing out
that some of these murders are spaced by many years.
(14:43):
Could it be that it was the same gun, with
the heavywear occurring over the course of seventeen years. Further,
it was later alleged and strongly implied during Pacciani's appeal,
that the bullet found in his garden had been planted
by police investigators. As for the H stamp on the casings,
that was a manufacturer's mark for Winchester Western. In fact,
(15:06):
some bullets recovered from the crime scenes differed greatly, with
some of the projectiles consisting of lead ball and others
being jacketed in copper. In a move that stunned Italy,
Pietro Pacciani was acquitted and released after his first appeal.
That was not an outcome that Chief Giotari wished for.
He was certain that the man was guilty, but had accomplices,
(15:29):
Giotari pushed on, Determined to put this case right, He
continued to investigate Pacciani's close friends, including one man named
Giancarlo Loti. Loti stated that he had witnessed Pacciani and
another mutual friend, Mario Vanni, carrying out the last of
the Monster of Florence murders in nineteen eighty five. Vanni
(15:50):
was actually a witness during Paciani's criminal trial, stating only
that Pacciani and himself were snack buddies who would meet
at a local bar regularly along with Lodi and others.
Giutari thought these friends were either the accomplices he knew
must have existed, or they at least had the information
that he needed. Giotari had phones tapped, men followed, and
(16:13):
more witnesses uncovered. Through these phone call recordings, he learned
a lot. Lodi stated that the gang would look for
potential victims like the nineteen eighty four killings of Claudio
Stefanacci and Pia Orontini. He admitted to being the one
in the railroad station bar that had scouted Pia on
the night that she and her boyfriend were killed. Loti
(16:34):
went further, stating that a fourth man was present during
that double homicide. It was the doctor of the group, Narducci,
that had chased down Stefanacci and stabbed him from behind.
Lodi inferred that if not for doctor Francesco Narducci, then
a survivor of the murders could have unraveled everything. Gian
Carlo Lodi also said that when Francesco Vinci was in
(16:57):
jail for the nineteen eighty one murders of Baldy and Camby,
Lodi had been the one to shoot the two German
tourists to death in the van, leading the police to
believe that they had imprisoned the wrong man and eventually
set him free. Lodi also said that he was blackmailed
into being the trigger man by Pacciani, who threatened to
expose him publicly. However, it must be noted that the
(17:18):
facts in Lodi's story differed with almost each telling, and
he contradicted himself constantly. For instance, when asked where the
German men were sitting while in the Volkswagon at the
time of their murder, Lodi said that they were in
the front seats. In reality, the bodies of Mayor and
Rush were found lying in the back of the van
(17:38):
But just when one thinks that the case of the Monster,
or rather Monsters of Florence could not be more convoluted,
the testimony of Lucciano Malatesta came to attention and quickly
gained credibility. Malatesta alleged that doctor Francesco Narducci, Pietro Pacciani,
Giancarlo Loti, and Mario Alvani were all members of a
(18:02):
satanic cult that was hidden in plain sight, a theory
which proved highly controversial but was embraced by investigators. Luciano
referred to this group of men as a gang, and
the neighborhood generally agreed, though as an adult during Pacciani's trial,
Luciano could not convince anyone to come forward to testify.
It is also noted, most heinously that the removed female
(18:25):
body parts of all of the victims of the Monsters
of Florence were allegedly left for doctor Narducci to be
used in satanic rituals. Luciano Malatesta's story goes further, linking
this satanic cult to some of Florence's elite, wealthiest citizens,
and that this cult was active since the late nineteen sixties,
(18:46):
but before Pietro Pacciani could be retried for the Monster
of Florence murders. He died in nineteen ninety eight of
a possible heart attack. It was the night before his
trial was to begin, and it's said that he was
terrified that he would be murdered to protect the rest
of the cult members, and he barricaded himself in his house.
Pietro Pacciani was found dead lying in a hallway with
(19:09):
his pants down. A drug was found in his bloodstream,
a poison to those with a heart condition like Pacciani's.
His own attorney would later state in hush tones that
Pacciani was indeed murdered. It seemed that Pietro Pacciani may
have been correct about his demise. In the weeks leading
up to his second indictment, prostitutes who are said to
(19:30):
have taken part in the Satanic rituals were found dead
in rapid succession. Francesco Vinci was found burned to death
in a hog tiede position, stuffed into the trunk of
his car. One supposed member of the cult was found
hung in his jail cell. Another burned to death in
an apparent automobile accident, perishing along with her three year
old son. Geotari is certain that these deaths are connected
(19:54):
to the cult, but proving it is another thing. Entirely.
His witnesses have begun to die off, and it seems
that whomever was orchestrating these killings was protecting those at
the very top despite the sudden lack of witnesses. Giancarlo
Loti and Mario Vanni were both convicted of a portion
of the Monster of Florence's serial murders in two thousand
(20:16):
and one, with Loti given twenty eight years in prison
and Vanni sentenced to life. Giancarlo served only a short time,
passing away behind bars in two thousand and two. Mario
followed suit. In two thousand and nine, Still the case
of the Monster of Florence lingers, many mysterious phone calls
were made to those remaining participants of the cult's activities.
(20:38):
One prosecutor stated that an inexperienced coroner had been sent
to the scene of Narducci's late death, proclaiming the cause
of death as drowning, though no autopsy was ever performed.
It wouldn't be until June of two thousand and two
that some answers would come due to an exhumation which
was ordered by Chief Giuatari's team. These findings, though hotly disputed,
(21:00):
it alleged that Narducci had been strangled to death and
that a Freemason's ceremonial apron was found with his body.
This specific evidence quickly became the key link in the
investigator's theory, connecting the killings to high level occult figures.
Does this mean that the Freemasons were involved in the
secretive Satanic rituals? Or did Freemasons commit the murder to
(21:22):
punish the doctor and to remove him from their ranks
because of his involvement in Satanism? The Monsters of Florence's
case remains enshrouded in a dark cloak to this day.
Have Giutari and other investigators and prosecutors turned a conspiracy
theory into a decade's long wild goose chase? Or are
they trying to uncover something that runs so high up
(21:44):
that they should be concerned for their own safety. If
you'd like to learn more and dive deeper into this case,
Netflix has a documentary titled Monsters of Florence that was
released back in twenty twenty, and a recent scripted series
has just been released titled Monster of Florence. Do you
have any comments or a case you'd like to suggest.
You'll find a comment form and caseubmission link at Lordenarts
(22:07):
dot com. Thank you, Time Magazine, People, Biography, The New
York Times, The Guardian, The Cinemahlic, The Deep, Dark and
Scary and Absolute Crime YouTube channels, Netflix, and Wikipedia for
information contributing to today's story. This episode was written by
Frederick Crook, edited by John Lorden and produced by lord Arts.
If you appreciated today's episode, please check out the novel Wraithworks,
(22:30):
another collaboration between Frederick Crook and myself. It's available in
hard coffee or audiobook format. You can find more information
about Wraithworks at Lordenarts dot com or by searching for
it on Amazon. Thank you to our audience here for
the live recording session hosted on the YouTube channel Lorden
Art's Studio two Special. Thanks to Seriously Mysterious Financial supporters
(22:51):
Candy Bishop, Misty Kate, Robert Martin and b Jones. Most
of all, thank you for listening. I'm John Lordon. Please
join me again next week for another case I know
you'll find seriously Mysterious
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