New autopsy turns 1987 Mortara roadside death into murder probe, wife among two suspects

A new autopsy overturns the 1987 finding

The new autopsy was carried out by professor Cristina Cattaneo at the request of the Pavia prosecutor's office, and its report rejects the suicide conclusion that closed the case. The 48-year-old man was found dead on the roadside in Mortara, in the province of Pavia, on 11 February 1987. According to the report, he was struck several times on the head with a blunt object and tried to defend himself, an attempt consistent with an injury to his left hand. The findings also reject the depression theory that had supported the suicide hypothesis, and they describe an agony of about one hour before death. The report was filed with the Pavia prosecutors, who now treat the death as a homicide.

How the death was first explained

In 1987 investigators concluded that the man had thrown himself under a heavy vehicle on the road from Mortara toward Ceretto. ANSA reports that the truck was never traced, while Rai and Fanpage refer to a concrete mixer. Rai now describes the new reconstruction as one in which the man was attacked before being run over. Back then, the presence of poisonous substances in his stomach was read as a voluntary intake. His three sons raised suspicions as soon as he died, but the file was archived as a suicide.

The 2024 reopening and the exhumation

The case was reopened in September 2024 after documents arrived in Pavia from the prosecutors in Trapani. Those papers came from a separate proceeding against the victim's wife, who had been investigated in Trapani for an alleged attempt on the life of her son. Pavia prosecutors then ordered the exhumation of the body, which was held in the cemetery in Castellammare del Golfo, in the province of Trapani. Both suspects live in that town. The inquiry continued from there and led to the new autopsy that now supports a homicide finding.

Suspects, motive and physical evidence

Two people are under investigation: the victim's wife and an alleged hitman. Sources say the investigation is focusing on the wife as well as on the alleged hitman. Investigators are examining a motive that may be linked to an extramarital affair of the wife, which the victim is said to have discovered. In the last days of his life the man showed an unusual physical weakness, consistent with an attempted poisoning. According to the investigators' reconstruction, traces of petrol found on his body and clothing point to a failed attempt by the attackers to burn the corpse. The three sons now hold the status of injured parties in the inquiry, which is reportedly nearing its conclusion.