Chiara Poggi's parents affirm Alberto Stasi conviction while acknowledging new probe

Stance on the reopened inquiry

The parents of Chiara Poggi, Giuseppe Poggi and Rita Preda, broke their public silence on 4 October 2026 concerning the reopened investigation into the 2007 murder of their daughter. Speaking with host Silvia Toffanin on the programme Verissimo, broadcast on Canale 5, the couple addressed recent judicial developments following the announcement that the Pavia prosecutor's office had closed its new investigation, which identified Andrea Sempio as the sole suspect. Giuseppe Poggi clarified that the family is not obstinately clinging to a single narrative, but maintains that Alberto Stasi remains the legally established culprit until formal justice dictates otherwise.

Justice gave us a culprit, for us it is Stasi. If this new investigation, this prosecutor's office gives us a new culprit, we will take note.

Eight years of judicial proceedings

Chiara Poggi was killed on 13 August 2007 inside her family villa on via Pascoli in Garlasco. Her boyfriend at the time, Alberto Stasi, was sentenced to 16 years in prison after an eight-year judicial process comprising five separate trials. Rita Preda recalled that the complex procedural path included two initial acquittals followed by three convictions before the ruling became final. Subsequent defense appeals submitted to the President of the Italian Republic and to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg were both rejected, leaving the final conviction against Stasi intact.

Rita Preda reiterated that the family views the current prosecutorial inquiries as preliminary steps rather than an established judicial truth:

Until justice gives us another name, for us the killer is that one. If it gives another, we will take note.

Media pressure and family defence

During the interview, which was scheduled to air in full during prime time on Canale 5 following Gerry Scotti's game show La Ruota della Fortuna, the parents described acute fatigue caused by intense television coverage. Rita Preda counted seven distinct television programmes covering the Garlasco case in a single day, remarking that the news environment made it seem as though Garlasco were the only current topic. The volume of media activity prompted the municipality of Garlasco to issue an order prohibiting non-residents from entering via Pascoli to prevent reporters and camera crews from besieging the residence.

Giuseppe Poggi compared the current climate unfavourably to the original investigation, describing the present environment as a media circus. He criticized unsubstantiated claims published by news outlets about Chiara and their son Marco, including a weekly magazine report alleging that Marco had returned from a holiday with the intent to kill his sister. Giuseppe Poggi stated that prosecutors in Pavia could have intervened to quell such public insinuations regarding both siblings.