Alberto Stasi leaves prison after 10 years for Garlasco murder, granted probation
Alberto Stasi walked out of Bollate prison on Saturday morning after serving 10 years of a 16-year sentence for the 2007 murder of his ex-girlfriend Chiara Poggi. The Milan surveillance court granted him probation to social services, the final step before full freedom.
Release and immediate aftermath
Alberto Stasi, now 42, left Milan's Bollate prison through a side entrance around 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, 13 June 2026, avoiding the main gate where journalists had gathered since early morning. He had spent Friday night at a rented apartment in the Milan hinterland on a permit and was ordered to return to the facility only to sign release papers and collect his belongings. Before leaving, he followed prison custom and gave a fan and a mini-fridge to his cellmate.
His lawyer Giada Bocellari confirmed he will not return to Garlasco, the town where the crime occurred, though he faces no restriction on traveling within Lombardy. Stasi resumed his job as an accountant at a financial management firm in central Milan, a position he has held since January 2023 under a work-release programme. A portion of his salary is paid to the Poggi family as civil damages.
A decade behind walls
Stasi entered Bollate on 12 December 2015 after a definitive conviction for the murder of Chiara Poggi, which took place in August 2007. His path through the penitentiary system followed a gradual progression: work-release approval on 24 January 2023, reward permits at his uncles' home from May 2024, and semiliberty status on 11 April 2025, by which time two-thirds of his sentence had been served.
- Enters Bollate prison after definitive 16-year sentence for the Garlasco murder
- Granted work-release; begins accounting job in Milan
- Semiliberty status takes effect, with nights spent outside prison
- Released under probation to social services; remaining sentence to be served outside
The court's reasoning
The Milan Surveillance Court, presided over by Marcello Bortolato, found that Stasi's conduct during semiliberty had been "without blemish" and that the measure "confirmed the absence of dangerousness profiles". The public prosecutor's office gave a positive opinion, citing good conduct, favourable prison reports, and the inmate's low-key behaviour after the controversial March 2025 television interview on Le Iene, which had occurred shortly before semiliberty was granted.
The evaluation for granting probation is made exclusively on observation reports and behaviour inside and outside prison, and takes into account the opinions of the competent bodies. It is not automatic—otherwise the benefit would be granted to all detainees with less than four years to serve.
The order also notes that Stasi "accepted a sentence he considers unjust without living the institution as an enemy" and demonstrated "empathy and suffering" for the victim, along with "balance and resilience" when the investigation was reopened and media attention surged.
Remaining sentence and next steps
If Stasi respects all the conditions of probation, the remainder of his sentence—about two years—will be served outside prison, and once completed the penalty will be regarded as extinguished. His lawyers are expected to file a request for a review of the conviction, though no date has been set.
What is his state of mind? You know how reserved he is. This concerns his private sphere; I could not convey exactly what he feels.
