Luigi Chiatti (born 27 February 1968 in
Narni
Narni (in Latin, Narnia) is an ancient hilltown and ''comune'' of Umbria, in central Italy, with 19,252 inhabitants (2017). At an altitude of 240 m (787 ft), it overhangs a narrow gorge of the Nera River in the province of Terni. ...
) is an Italian murderer, named "The Monster of Foligno" by the media.
Biography
Born Antonio Rossi to mother Marisa Rossi, a young maid who, unable to provide for her son, abandoned him shortly after his birth. He spent his first years in an orphanage near Narni until his sixth birthday, when he was adopted by the physician Ermanno Chiatti and his consort Giacoma Ponti, a resident of
Foligno
Foligno (; Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located so ...
. When his adoption became official on 13 June 1975 his name was changed to Luigi Chiatti.
Events
On the afternoon of 4 October 1992, one Sunday, little Simone Allegretti (4 years old) disappeared in the countryside between Foligno and
Bevagna
Bevagna is a town and ''comune'' in the central part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria), in the flood plain of the Topino river.
Bevagna is south-east of Perugia, west of Foligno, north-north-west of Montefalco, south of Assisi and ...
; his lifeless body was found two days later along an escarpment, not far from where he had disappeared. Shortly before the corpse was found, in a telephone booth in front of the railway station, in the center of Foligno, a note was found that claimed the murder and provided precise details on where the body was and what the clothing was. The note also asserted the murderer's willingness to strike again.
The police headquarters of Perugia activated a toll-free number and a note was issued to the killer. On 13 October a man called the toll-free number several times identifying himself as the "Monster of Foligno". Thanks to these phone calls, its users were traced, leading to the identification of Stefano Spilotros, a young
Lombard real estate agent. In the face of inconsistencies and testimonies of Spilotros' friends and relatives, who said that on Sunday he was with them in
Rodano
Rodano ( lmo, Roeudin ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Milan, Lombardy, northern Italy.
Geography
The territory of Rodano, east of Milan, is part of the Parco Agricolo Sud Milano and has large areas committed to agricult ...
, near
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, a further autopsy was arranged on the victim's body, which excluded his guilt, revealing him to be a mythomaniac.
The strong climate of hysteria created around the story created other similar situations: a young worker from the province of
Macerata
Macerata () is a city and ''comune'' in central Italy, the county seat of the province of Macerata in the Marche region. It has a population of about 41,564.
History
The historical city centre is on a hill between the Chienti and Potenza ri ...
hanged himself, leaving a note saying "I am the monster, forgive me".
On 7 August 1993 the real monster struck again: the corpse of 13-year-old Lorenzo Paolucci was found shortly after the crime and was only 30 feet from the villa inhabited by Chiatti. The tracks led straight to the house where Luigi Chiatti was subsequently captured. He almost immediately confessed to the murder, also admitting to the murder of Simone Allegretti.
First Degree Condemnation
On 1 December 1994 the trial against Luigi Chiatti, accused of the murder of Simone Allegretti and Lorenzo Paolucci, began. On December 28 of the same year, he was sentenced to two life sentences.
Appeal and Supreme Court
On 11 April 1996 the Court of Appeal of
Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...
reformed the sentence of the first instance, declaring Chiatti semi-mentally ill and condemned him to 30 years of imprisonment. Finally, on 4 March 1997, the
Supreme Court of Cassation
A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
upheld the sentence, thus imposing the sentence on the court final. Among the testimonies brought by the defense, there was an orphanage companion of Chiatti who stated that he himself, along with Chiatti, were sexually abused by a priest.
He served his sentence in the
Prato
Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...
prison. He had asked twice for prize permits, but they were refused. It was rumored that in June 2009 he was released from prison for a few hours, but the lawyers denied the news. On 3 September 2015 Luigi Chiatti finished his prison sentence, but will have to reside for at least another three years in a Rems (type of structure that since 2015 has replaced the old judicial psychiatric hospitals) in
Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
.
See also
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Serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
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* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
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Monster of Florence
The Monster of Florence ( it, Il Mostro di Firenze) is the name commonly used by the Italian media for an unidentified serial killer active within the Province of Florence between 1968 and 1985. The Monster murdered fourteen victims, usually you ...
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Donato Bilancia
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Ferdinand Gamper
Ferdinand Gamper (September 12, 1957 – March 1, 1996), known as The Monster of Merano, was a serial killer in South Tyrol, Italy. He killed six people in Merano during 1996, before he died.
Biography
Born into a family devoted to pastoralism, ...
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Roberto Succo
Roberto Succo (3 April 1962 – 23 May 1988) was an Italian serial killer who committed several murders and other violent crimes mostly in Italy and France in the 1980s.
Murders
Succo was born in Mestre. On 3 April 1981 he fatally stabbed his ...
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Beasts of Satan
The Beasts of Satan ( it, Bestie di Satana) were a Satanic group, members of which were tried and convicted of a series of Satanic ritual murders between 1998 and 2004.
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List of serial killers by country
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiatti, Luigi
1968 births
Living people
People from Narni
Violence against men in Europe