‘Monster of Florence’ serial killer case still unsolved | World | News

An Italian serial killer who claimed the lives of 16 people continues to evade capture more than 50 years after their first murders. Dubbed The Monster of Florence, the murderer shot, stabbed and mutilated victims, most of whom were couples.

The first horrific killing was in August 1968 when lover Barbara Locci and Antonio Lo Bianco were shot dead in Signa, near Florence. The killer launched their attack as the couple sat in a car, with Barbara’s son asleep on the back seat.

Her husband, Stefano Mele, was charged with murder and jailed for six years, but while he was behind bars another couple was murdered, reportedly with the same gun.

Stefano was released after the killing of barman Pasquale Gentilcore and accountant Stefania Pettini in September 1974. They were shot and stabbed in a lane near Borgo San Lorenzo as they were having sex in Pasquale’s car.

In June 1981, The Monster struck again, shooting and stabbing warehouse worker Giovanni Foggi and shop assistant Carmela De Nuccio, who were engaged to be married.

The killer dragged Carmela’s body out of the car and mutilated her private parts with a knife.

Enzo Spalletti, a voyeur, was charged with murder after he talked about the killing before the bodies had been discovered.

But again, he was released after The Monster struck again, this time claiming the lives of Stefano Baldi and telephonist Susanna Cambi, who were also engaged, in October 1981.

Again, they were shot and stabbed, this time around Calenzano. Susanna was mutilated in the same way as Carmela.

In June 1982, mechanic Paolo Mainardi and Antonella Migliorini, a dressmaker, were shot dead on a road in Montespertoli after having sex in Paolo’s car.

The Monster next shot dead two students from Germany – Wilhelm Friedrich Horst Meyer and Jens Uwe Rüsch, who were in Italy celebrating a scholarship.

It was believed the killer was deceived by Rüsch’s long blond hair that he was a woman.

Claudio Stefanacci and Pia Gilda Rontini were shot and stabbed to death in July 1984 near Vicchio. This time the sick killer mutilated his female victim’s private parts and left breast.

In September the following year, musician Jean Michel Kraveichvili and businesswoman Nadine Mauriot, who were both from France, were shot and stabbed in their tent while camping in woodland near San Casciano in Val di Pesa. Their deaths are believed to have been The Monster’s last.

A few days after the murders, part of Nadine’s breast was sent to the prosecutor in charge of the investigation along with a note.

In total, five men were identified as suspects, with three found guilty of the murders. All were subsequently cleared when The Monster struck again while they were in prison.

The killings have also been linked to a satanic cult by Italian police as well as a journalist’s linking The Monster of Florence to the unsolved Zodiac Killer case in the US.

In 2022, families of three of The Monster’s victims asked the authorities to examine the case again, believing some details had been overlooked. But the identity of the person behind some of Italy’s most chilling murders remains a mystery.