Rome, 5 August (LaPresse) – On 7 August 1990, Simonetta Cesaroni, aged 20, was found dead in her office in Via Carlo Poma 2, Rome. Her body was half naked, lying in a pool of blood that had been partially cleaned up. She had been stabbed 29 times. Her sister Paola discovered the body. From the outset, the investigation was marred by errors, misdirection and unconfirmed hypotheses. This contributed to turning the case into one of the most mysterious in Italian crime history.
After 35 years, the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office has decided to reopen the case. Judge Giulia Arcieri has authorised new investigations based on modern forensic techniques, new testimony and searches. Four urgent searches have been ordered, material has been seized and 26 witnesses, including old and new figures connected to the case, will be interviewed.
Among the names involved are also important institutional figures, such as Carmine Belfiore, current deputy chief of police, and Antonio Del Greco, former head of the homicide division in 1990. Both will be heard as persons informed of the facts. Journalists and scholars who have closely followed the case, such as Giuseppe Pizzo, Igor Patruno and criminologist Carmelo Lavorino, will also be heard.
Among the witnesses are also people close to the victim or to the environment in which she worked: the doorkeeper Bianca Limongiello, the housekeeper of Simonetta's former employer, Maria Strelenciuc, the magistrate Rita Loreto and Sergio Costa.
Over the years, various suspects were investigated. Federico Valle was cleared. The doorman Pietrino Vanacore was arrested and then acquitted; in 2010, he took his own life. The former boyfriend, Raniero Busco, was tried, convicted in the first instance, but finally acquitted in 2014. Now, with new evidence and thanks to new technologies and testimonies, the case could finally be solved.
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