Carabinieri vow transparency after Garlasco murder evidence was destroyed in 2016 without court approval
Carabinieri General Commander Salvatore Luongo pledged full cooperation after revelations that forensic liquid extracts from the 2007 Garlasco murder were destroyed in May 2016, six years before court authorization.
Premature destruction of forensic extracts
Forensic liquid solutions derived from crime scene samples in the 13 August 2007 murder of Chiara Poggi were destroyed in May 2016, six years before judicial authorities granted formal authorization in February 2022. According to documents revealed on 5 October 2026, the disposal was ordered by former colonel Alberto Marino of the Carabinieri Scientific Investigations Department (RIS) in Parma. In 2007, the RIS unit had recorded in official minutes that all processing extracts would remain stored and available to judicial authorities. The destruction took place five months after the definitive conviction of Alberto Stasi on 12 December 2015.
Carabinieri command promises full cooperation
Carabinieri General Commander Salvatore Luongo addressed the revelations during an interview broadcast on Tg1 on 5 October 2026. Luongo stated that the military police force will cooperate fully with the judiciary regarding any historical irregularities or individual misconduct.
If the judiciary ascertains irregularities or individual responsibilities in the past, the Carabinieri's response will be total cooperation, maximum transparency and absolute firmness.
Luongo emphasized that individual errors must not compromise the standing of the Carabinieri or the scientific credibility of the RIS unit. He defended the integrity of forensic science and maintained that protocols must remain open to scrutiny.
Public trust is not preserved by hiding doubts, nor is it measured by the infallibility of individuals, but by demonstrating professionalism, determination, capacity for self-criticism and absolute rigor in the application of scientific protocols every day.
Disputed samples and trace 33
The Pavia prosecutor's office opened inquiries into how material was preserved, focusing on plaster samples taken from a cellar wall near where Poggi was found. Defense lawyers for Stasi requested details on liquid extracts known as 33dattilo and 97F, alongside nine extracts from the victim's fingernails. In a document signed by Colonel Matteo Donghi, the RIS stated that the extracts were placed in a dedicated freezer in a biometric-secured room on 20 December 2011. Donghi stated that the tubes were later discarded in a collective disposal alongside materials from other proceedings without a separate formal record, classifying them as working intermediates rather than seized legal exhibits.
- Chiara Poggi is murdered at her home in Garlasco
- Forensic test on Alberto Stasi bicycle pedals returns positive genetic match
- Two subsequent electrophoretic tests on bicycle pedals yield negative results
- Liquid forensic extracts are placed in biometric-secured freezer at Parma RIS
- Alberto Stasi receives definitive conviction for the murder of Chiara Poggi
- Parma RIS leadership orders disposal of liquid extracts without judicial approval
- Corte d'Assise d'Appello orders disposal of seized physical exhibits
- Appeals court confirms exhibit disposal and orders return of bicycles to Stasi
- Judicial authority formally approves disposal of trial evidence
- Pavia prosecutors close investigation into new suspect Andrea Sempio
- Carabinieri General Commander Salvatore Luongo addresses evidence handling on Tg1
Procedural history and undisclosed tests
In September 2021, the Corte d'Assise d'Appello ordered the disposal of several seized exhibits. Stasi's defense team opposed the move to preserve key materials, but judges confirmed the destruction in January 2022 while returning bicycles to Stasi. The recent scrutiny also follows a 28 September 2026 announcement by Pavia prosecutors concluding an investigation into Andrea Sempio. Prosecutors noted that while genetic testing on Stasi's bicycle pedals yielded a positive match on 19 September 2007, two electrophoretic runs on 20 September 2007 yielded negative results. Technical consultants Carlo Previderè and Pierangela Grignani confirmed the existence of the negative runs, which were never included in the original trial case file or examined further in 2007.
