Sadistic Mysogynist

Between 1968-85 sixteen people had been shot dead. Many had been stabbed as well and the violence against the female victims escalated. All sixteen murders were committed with the same gun and the bullets even came from the very same box of ammunition as well. The killer was a Sadistic misogynist – a particularly vicious one. The level of violence went far beyond what was needed to kill, especially on the women and it became progressively worse.

Towards the end of his reign of evil the female victims were stabbed repeatedly and had their genitals cut out as well. Two had their left breasts cut off as well. He was clearly striking at the female identity of these victims. He also sent a portion of his final victimʼs left breast to a prosecutor who had almost tricked him into revealing himself previously.The trail eventually went cold – frozen it could be said – but why?

An Innocent

There was no shortage of theories, hunches and Chinese whispers as to who il Mostro di Firenze (the Monster of Florence) was. As would be expected in such a case the main suspects were far from angels. There were two or even three main lines of enquiry.

The first victims Antonio lo Bianco and Barbara Locci were murdered in 1968. It took several killings and almost fifteen years to realise that all the murders had been committed with the same gun. By that time Locciʼs husband Stefano Mele had been sentenced to fourteen years imprisonment and had served six. Was he the monster? He couldnʼt possibly have committed all of the murders and this was well known to investigators.

Mele certainly had a powerful motive for the 1968 murders. Locci had a stream of lovers and flaunted it in Meleʼs face, but Mele clearly could not have been il Mostro. The crime spree continued while he was in prison, which meant that either Mele was completely innocent, or there was another killer who got possession of the same gun and just happened to be a particularly vicious serial killer.

Embarrassing

Meleʼs account to investigators was contradictory. It wasnʼt difficult to see why investigators in 1968 had focused on him. His 6-year-old son Natalino had not only been spared, but carried to a nearby home and dropped off there. For a monster who would later kill and mutilate victims in a chilling fashion, this behaviour defied logic. It suggested that the murders of lo Bianco and Locci may well not have been committed by il Mostro, but by someone known to them and who cared about the child. Stefano Mele certainly ticked those boxes.

After all, why would a Sadistic misogynist serial killer care about killing one more, even if it was a child? And why would such a vicious killer take the trouble to ensure that the child not only survived, but was looked after? It made no sense, especially as it increased the prospect of detection. However, if the killer was related to Natalino or cared about him it made perfect sense. No wonder investigators quickly homed in on Stefano Mele.

Stefano was an obvious suspect in the murders of lo Bianco and Locci. The conduct of the killer after the murders also fitted Mele – Natalino was his son after all. He must have known that he would be a prime suspect. The contradictions in his accounts to police and his confession all but secured his fate, but the lack of scientific evidence was surprising to say the least.

And of course the weapon used to kill lo Bianco and Locci was used by il Mostro for the other murders. Either the first murders were not part of the series of il Mostro crimes at all, or there was not just one monster, or il Mostro committed all the crimes. Despite some convictions there remains a widespread belief in Tuscany that the Monster was never brought to justice.

Despicable

I have spent the last few days in Florence. It’s a gorgeous city – the birth-place of the Renaissance. It gave the world much to be proud of. Michelangelo Buonaroti’s famous statue of David still has pride of place in the city’s Accademia Gallery. It is undoubtedly a city with much to offer still, but it has a dark and nasty side too, although the latest horror to tarnish it didn’t even occur in Florence.

The murder of 26 year-old Romanian prostitute Andrea Cristina Zamfir was appalling. Her naked body was found taped at the wrists beneath a motorway flyover at the Via del Climetro near the village of Ugnano, which is close to the capital of Tuscany, Florence. She was left with her hands taped to an iron bar under the flyover. She tried to break free, but could not, dying a slow and horrible death from the internal injuries that her rapist had inflicted on her.

A year ago another prostitute was attacked in the same way and left in the same state at the same place. She survived and described both her attacker and the car he drove. The crimes are plainly linked. The first victim suffered horrific internal injuries that required hospitalisation for three weeks. She was raped too. Her description of her attacker fits that of the suspect in Zamfir’s murder.

Off the Mark

However, attempts to link these terrible crimes to the as yet unsolved serial killings committed by il Mostro di Firenze (the Monster of Florence) even in terms of public fear and panic are way off the mark. Zamfir’s killer is not a serial killer and thankfully he may not get the chance to become one, if the suspect who was arrested quickly proves to be Zamfir’s murderer. There have been many similar attacks on prostitutes including the signature crucifixion attempt, but Zamfir was the first to die.

This was not a planned killing as il Mostro’s undoubtedly were. The possibility that the victim would die must have occurred to the attacker – he obviously did not care if the victims died, but it was a bizarre way to try to kill. The victim could have been found and described her attacker too. There is no similarity to il Mostro. Zamfir’s killer is certainly vicious and depraved, but that is where comparisons should end.

A 55 year-old suspect who used the services of prostitutes was quickly arrested. There have been others too. The description of the attacker fits the suspect. The previous attacks were not reported – the victims saw no point. Now they do. This also shows that there was no panic – nobody feared that the infamous il Mostro was killing again and there was no time for panic to develop anyway. A suspect was quickly arrested. Although similar crimes had been committed previously, they had not been reported, apart from the attack on the 46 year-old woman.

Media

Nevertheless, various media were quick to raise the question of a serial killer. Prosecutor Paolo Canessa, who had worked on the il Mostro case previously is quoted in the Mirror saying: “We can say with certainty that that the perpetrator is a homicidal maniac and that he is a serial homicidal maniac”.

Really? While the attacker cared not a whit if his victims lived or died, there is no evidence that he has killed previously – although that could be sheer luck as in the case of the Italian prostitute who survived his attack. The attacker is a vicious criminal, – there is no doubt about that – but there is no evidence at all that the suspect is a serial killer. It is possible he would have developed into one and that he was a serial rapist. The perpetrator plainly is a vicious piece of work, but where is the proof that he was a serial killer? And if there isn’t proof, then isn’t such reporting sensational, misleading and inaccurate?

Il Mostro di Firenze

There is, however, no question that il Mostro di Firenze was a particularly evil serial killer. He killed 16 people, starting in 1968 and ending in 1985. He has never been brought to justice. At various times four innocent people were convicted of being il Mostro, including the husband of the first victim Stefano Mele. There may even have been more than one Monster of Florence. The crimes remain unsolved.

Certainly il Mostro terrified Florence, but bizarrely he defied conventional logic. Serial killers don’t stop killing, we are told, but il Mostro did. It’s been almost 30 years since he claimed his last victims, always with the same gun, but some involving stabbings too and genital and further mutilation of the female victims designed to remove their femininity. Nobody knows why he stopped killing, but thankfully he did. He could still be brought to justice if the will exists here to investigate again , starting with a clean slate and using modern investigative methods and forensic sciences.

He has at least stopped in Florence and there are no reports of a similar pattern of killings starting elsewhere when Florence’s Monster stopped. Perhaps he is dead, jailed for other offences, institutionalised in an asylum, physically incapacitated, or just stopped for some unknown reason. We simply don’t know and can’t until and unless il Mostro is finally tied to his crimes. The most important question is not who is il Mostro? It is how can we tie him to his crimes? The answer to the second question will inevitably answer the first!

The crimes committed by Zamfir’s killer are horrible – despicable even – but they bear no similarity to those of il Mostro. There is no reason to compare them – even the fear that was supposed to be gripping Florence. Il Mostro led to Florence being overtaken by fear and suspicion. That has not happened as a result of Zamfir’s murder. Florence remains a truly beautiful city and its inhabitants still go about their daily business. There’s no sign of panic.