Italian police question teacher for four hours in Pietracatella ricin poisoning inquiry

Witness questioning at Campobasso headquarters

Investigators at the Campobasso police headquarters questioned a mathematics teacher for four hours on the morning of 13 September 2026 regarding the fatal ricin poisonings of Antonella Di Ielsi and her 15-year-old daughter, Sara Di Vita. The woman, a faculty member at the Agricultural Institute of Riccia, is a childhood friend of Gianni Di Vita, the husband and father of the two victims. She arrived at the flying squad offices on Via Tiberio around 08:00 and concluded her interview shortly after 12:00. Authorities heard her strictly as a person informed of the facts, and she is not listed as a suspect. Detectives focused their questions on her personal ties to Gianni Di Vita and her difficult history with Di Ielsi, noting that the two women had stopped speaking prior to the poisonings.

Conflicting testimony and family depositions

The Sunday session marked the teacher's third formal appearance before investigators, following earlier depositions around mid-August and a joint confrontation on 20 August 2026. This questioning forms part of a broader push by the Campobasso flying squad and Larino prosecutor Elvira Antonelli to address discrepancies among witness statements. On Friday, 11 September, detectives interviewed Gianni Di Vita's cousin Laura Di Vita for three hours at the station. On Saturday afternoon, 12 September, police conducted an extended interview with a cousin of the former mayor. Investigators also scheduled an interview with the teacher's husband, who is employed as a laboratory technician at the Riccia agricultural school, with further depositions planned for the following days.

School computer searches and digital evidence

The Agricultural Institute of Riccia emerged as a focal point in the inquiry after forensic digital examinations detected online searches and information requests concerning ricin on school computers. Italian investigators activated international judicial cooperation channels to determine the origin of these internet connections and trace the specific devices used. In April 2026, prosecutors examined whether the poison could have been manufactured through artisanal methods, given that castor oil plants grow naturally in the Molise region. The case remains officially registered against unknown persons under the charge of aggravated double intentional murder using poisonous substances.

Toxicology findings and case history

The double homicide investigation dates back to 23 December 2025, following a dinner at the Di Vita family residence in Pietracatella, a small town in Campobasso province. Di Ielsi and Sara Di Vita fell critically ill following the meal and died shortly afterward in a Campobasso hospital from ricin intoxication. Gianni Di Vita, an accountant, informed police that he had experienced gastrointestinal distress around the same time. However, forensic toxicological tests conducted by Italian laboratories and confirmed by specialists at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin detected no past or present ricin exposure in his body. Discrepancies between his statements and those of the mathematics teacher led to their six-hour joint interrogation on 20 August 2026 before prosecutor Antonelli and police chief Marco Graziano.