Suspects in Sigfrido Ranucci bombing deny Lavitola claims during Rebibbia questioning
Two alleged executors of the October 2025 bomb attack against Report host Sigfrido Ranucci answered prosecutors during an all-day interrogation at Rebibbia prison in Rome.
Interrogations at Rebibbia
Two men accused of carrying out the 16 October 2025 bomb attack against investigative journalist Sigfrido Ranucci answered questions from Rome prosecutors on 27 August 2026. Pellegrino D'Avino and Antonio Passariello, who were arrested on 30 June alongside two others, spent roughly nine to eleven hours in questioning at Rebibbia prison. Defense attorneys Generoso Pagliarulo and Antonio Falconieri entered the facility at 10:00 in the morning, with sessions concluding after 19:30. A third imprisoned suspect remains held, while a fourth, Marika De Filippis, is under house arrest and will face questioning by carabinieri at her residence at a later date.
They provided their defense version and did not shy away from the questions asked by the public prosecutor.
Contradicting Lavitola's account
During the session, D'Avino and Passariello directly challenged earlier statements made by political fixer Valter Lavitola. On 12 August 2026, Lavitola admitted to being the instigator of the attack when questioned by preliminary investigations judge Iole Moricca, but claimed he had merely suggested firing three or four bullets into the perimeter wall of Ranucci's residence in Pomezia. Lavitola had claimed his motive was to raise the journalist's public profile, encourage him to enter politics or adopt an independent production model similar to Michele Santoro, and secure increased police protection against alleged threats from Israeli intelligence. Ranucci rejected Lavitola's claims. D'Avino and Passariello contradicted Lavitola's account, stating that their instructions explicitly required placing and detonating an explosive device. They stated the assignment was a staged display paid with 3,000 euros to divide among four people, without any intent to cause physical injury.
- Explosive device detonates outside Sigfrido Ranucci's residence in Pomezia
- Police arrest four suspects accused of executing the bombing
- Valter Lavitola admits to instigating the intimidation in testimony before judge Iole Moricca
- Suspects Pellegrino D'Avino and Antonio Passariello undergo an all-day interrogation at Rebibbia prison
The role of the intermediary
Both men reiterated that they had never met or communicated directly with Lavitola or Ranucci prior to the attack. Instead, all instructions and payments flowed through Clesio Gomes Tavares, an employee at Lavitola's restaurant and his business associate in African carbon credit ventures. The suspects stated that Tavares never disclosed whose interests he represented when commissioning the device. Tavares, speaking from Cameroon in a broadcast on Tg1, acknowledged knowing some of the arrested individuals, refused to comment on the explosive device, and stated he is prepared to return to Italy to answer investigators.
Defense strategy on mafia charges
The legal team representing three of the four suspects plans to submit a formal motion requesting house arrest or other less restrictive measures. The defense argues that the suspects pose no flight risk or risk of repeat offenses, and that the absence of mafia ties should disqualify the Article 416-bis aggravating circumstance. Prosecutors maintain that the bombing was aggravated by mafia methods, alongside charges of explosives possession and property damage. An initial charge of massacre was previously rejected by the preliminary judge who ordered the arrests.
The goal of this interrogation is also to try to have the mafia aggravation dropped, to explain details that could lead to dropping this aggravating circumstance.
