Garlasco case: Andrea Sempio's defence prepares filings ahead of 18 October deadline

Defence meets in Rome

Andrea Sempio, 38, arrived at the Genomica centre in Rome on 12 October for new analyses scheduled that afternoon. Speaking to reporters on arrival, he said:

We will clear everything up as soon as we can.

Sempio is under investigation for the aggravated murder of Chiara Poggi, who died in Garlasco on 13 August 2007. His lawyers, Angela Taccia and Liborio Cataliotti, were due to meet their consultants that afternoon to decide which points of the new reports to answer. Fanpage reports that the defence has also questioned people who had never been heard before and who could exonerate Sempio. The lawyers told reporters they will decide what to reveal now and what to leave for the next stages of the proceedings.

What the new reports say

Pavia prosecutors closed their second investigation into the case on 28 September, according to Fanpage, which says the defence has 20 days to study the file. Counter-deductions and new consultancies must be filed by 18 October, in a double deposit. Among the prosecution's new reports, anthropologist Cristina Cattaneo and Biagio Eugenio Leone estimate that the interval between the first injuries and death was 'in the order of some tens of minutes', 'not less than about 15-30 minutes and plausibly between 30 and 60 minutes'. Gianpaolo Iuliano and Nicola Caprioli argue that the dimensions of a Frau shoe, size 42, are compatible with the measurements of Sempio's foot. ANSA reports that the defence must decide which of these reports to answer and how many points to address.

The Poggi family's filings

Chiara Poggi's parents filed two consultancies in May, at the first closure of the inquiry. The first relies on a blood trace on a door jamb that was never sampled, which is taken to indicate that Chiara was standing and places the start of the attack in the kitchen of the family villa in via Pascoli. The second states that the 'impronta a pallini' (dotted-pattern print) cannot be attributed to Sempio. Chiara's parents and brother have said they will not join the trial as civil parties (parte civile), a position their lawyer repeated. The Poggi family's stance and the new prosecution reports now frame the next phase of the case.

Stasi conviction and next steps

Alberto Stasi, Chiara's fiancé at the time, was definitively convicted and sentenced to 16 years in prison, and the Pavia inquiry calls several elements of that investigation into question. ANSA reports that a request for Sempio's referral to trial may come in the coming weeks, possibly as early as the next few weeks. The judge for preliminary investigations could block that request. Il Giornale reports that the lawyers could also raise the case before the Constitutional Court, asking for a suspension of any trial while Stasi's conviction is reviewed. Cataliotti told LaPresse that the defence does not take a referral to trial for granted, and he said:

The risk obviously exists, and trials can end in acquittals, but we would like to win it earlier.

Family and public voices

Sempio's mother, Daniela Ferrari, spoke to the programme Quarto Grado and said of her son:

Andrea is totally innocent, as I have always said.

She added that she fears the truth may not be enough. Sempio himself told Bruno Vespa in an interview that the fear of being the victim of a mistake is absolutely there. The defence's counter-filings are due on 18 October, the next fixed date in the case.