Three carabinieri commanders investigated over fatal Castel d'Azzano eviction raid in Verona

Three commanders under investigation

Prosecutors in Verona have opened a file on three senior carabinieri officers over the eviction operation at the Ramponi brothers' farmhouse in Castel d'Azzano, near Verona. The suspects are captain Vincenzo Spataro, commander of the Villafranca company, lieutenant colonel Antonio Sframeli, who headed the operational unit in Verona at the time, and colonel Claudio Papagno, the provincial commander of the carabinieri in Verona. They are under investigation for negligent homicide involving several deaths, a suspicion that concerns how the raid was organised and carried out rather than the explosion alone. Their lawyer, Gianfranco Ceoletta, told Fanpage.it that he would not make statements to the press. The development became public on Friday 30 October, at the first hearing of a disciplinary procedure that the Venice prosecutor general's office had opened against the same three officers.

The raid and the explosion

On 14 October 2025 carabinieri went to the farmhouse to search it and carry out an eviction ordered by the Verona court in an enforcement procedure. According to investigators, the building had been filled with gas and held gas cylinders and Molotov cocktails, some inside and some on the roof. The Ramponi siblings, Franco (66), Dino (64) and Maria Luisa (60), had tried on earlier occasions to block the eviction by barricading themselves on the roof and threatening to blow the building up. Disciplinary documents cited by Corriere del Veneto say the officers smelled gas at 3.02 that morning, eleven minutes before the blast, and that the Venice prosecutors believe the operation should have been halted at that moment. Il Messaggero, citing the investigation, reports that Maria Luisa Ramponi set off the explosion by throwing a lighter onto a floor doused in petrol.

Casualties

Three carabinieri died in the explosion: Marco Piffari (56), Valerio Daprà (56) and Davide Bernardello (36). Another 25 people, members of the task force and firefighters, were injured during the site inspection. Maria Luisa Ramponi was also hurt, and at the first hearing she still wore gloves for her burns, according to Il Messaggero. The relatives of Piffari filed the complaint that led to the disciplinary procedure, alleging negligence in how the eviction and the clearance of the site were handled.

Carabinieri killed3

Task force members injured25

Carabinieri killed

3

Task force members injured

25

Data from the article text

The Ramponi trial

The trial of the three siblings opened on Monday 26 October at the Corte d'Assise in Verona, where they face charges of strage (mass killing), possession of explosives and resisting a public official. For the first time all three were in the same courtroom, brought from three different prisons and seated beside their lawyers. None of them agreed to be filmed, although cameras were admitted. The court rejected a request from the defence of Franco and Dino Ramponi for a psychiatric assessment, after the preliminary hearing judge, Beatrice Marini, had already turned it down. The presiding judge, Raffaele Ferraro, wrote in the order:

“At this preliminary stage, before the facts are established and witnesses and expert consultants have been heard, there are not sufficient elements”

He therefore did not order the assessment, but left open a further evaluation once the evidence has been heard.

Disciplinary case and next steps

At the Venice hearing, Ceoletta asked for the disciplinary procedure to be suspended while the criminal inquiry in Verona is pending. The prosecutor general's office, represented by Paola Tonini and Nicola Proto, opposed the request, arguing that the two tracks are independent and run in parallel. The defence filed a memorandum with several attachments, and the prosecution asked for time to examine it. The second hearing is scheduled for 18 November, according to Il Giornale, which also reports that the three officers can no longer be heard as witnesses in the Verona case. Numerous witnesses from lists filed by prosecutor Elvira Vitulli, the civil parties and the defence are set to be heard to reconstruct the night of the explosion.