Mother of Garlasco murder suspect attempts suicide after months of online hate
Daniela Ferrari, 66, the mother of the sole suspect in the reopened Chiara Poggi murder case, attempted to take her own life with an overdose of tranquillisers on 17 June. Her lawyers revealed she had been subjected to relentless social media abuse.
Hospitalisation and suicide attempt
Daniela Ferrari, 66, was found at her home in Garlasco on the morning of 17 June after ingesting a large quantity of tranquillisers. She was taken to the emergency department of Vigevano hospital (Pavia), where doctors performed an urgent gastric lavage and admitted her to intensive care. Her condition was stable but she remained under close observation throughout the night. On the evening of 18 June, she was moved from intensive care to the psychiatric ward.
The defence lawyers of her son, Andrea Sempio, confirmed that the overdose was a deliberate suicide attempt. They spoke with the family’s explicit authorisation, saying they feared that sensitive medical details might otherwise leak in a distorted form. Andrea Sempio’s father, Giuseppe, also consented to the disclosure.
It was a suicide attempt. She is out of danger, but she is still in intensive care because she is not lucid.
Online hate campaign
Lawyers Cataliotti and Angela Taccia denounced a wave of hatred on Instagram, TikTok and other online platforms that did not stop even after news of the hospitalisation broke. “We continue to receive messages against her,” they said. They described the hate as the direct trigger for the 66-year-old’s psychological collapse.
This is an alarm bell that tells us it is time for everyone to lower the tone, especially when talking about people only indirectly involved in the investigation, whose only fault is being friends or relatives of a suspect, defendant or convict.
The targeting of Ferrari, who is only a witness in the case, intensified after her son was placed under investigation for the third time for the 2007 murder of Chiara Poggi in Garlasco.
Family’s distress and previous health crises
The pressure on the family has been building for over a year. In an interview with the TV programme Quarto Grado, Ferrari expressed anguish at the publication of private wiretaps and maintained her son’s innocence.
It makes me shiver that the wiretaps of a family talking in the car about their own business are made public. This accusation they are throwing at us today is a huge nonsense that will be disproved, like all the others so far. My son did nothing and our family has nothing to do with it.
She had already suffered health emergencies. On 28 April 2025 she collapsed during a witness interview at a carabinieri barracks in Milan; paramedics recorded tachycardia and a panic attack. On 16 October 2025 she was rushed to the San Matteo hospital in Pavia with a suspected stroke, which turned out to be an overdose of tranquillisers, though at the time there was no confirmation of suicidal intent.
- Collapses during witness testimony at a carabinieri barracks; tachycardia and panic attack recorded.
- Hospitalised at San Matteo hospital in Pavia for a suspected stroke; later attributed to excessive tranquiliser use.
- Attempts suicide with tranquiliser overdose at home in Garlasco; rushed to Vigevano ICU for gastric lavage.
- Transferred from intensive care to psychiatric ward; lawyers publicly confirm the suicide attempt.
Lawyers’ appeal and son’s silence
The legal team appealed for a collective effort to restore a “more serene climate”. They stressed that Ferrari “has nothing to do with this trial” and that they would multiply their efforts in court to “give back serenity to her son and the whole family”.
Andrea Sempio, when contacted by a reporter, refused to comment on his mother’s health, drawing a firm line between the family’s private tragedy and the judicial process. “It is not a matter of public interest,” he said. “It’s a private health issue.”
