Monster of Udine

Last updated
Monster of Udine
Born
unknown
Details
Victims4–16
Date1971–1989
Country Italy
State(s) Province of Udine

The Monster of Udine (Italian : Mostro di Udine) was an unidentified serial killer who killed at least four victims in the Province of Udine in north-eastern Italy between the years 1971 and 1989. [1]

Contents

In March 2019, following the discovery of some evidence which had never been analysed before, a plaintiff lawyer requested the reopening of the cold case. [2]

Murders

The official number of murders attributed to the Mostro di Udine is 4, although there may have been more (up to 16). The four victims were found with a gaping incision in their abdomen cut and cleaned with extreme care, most likely with a scalpel or something similar. The incision of the cut was very close to that of a Cesarean, which convinced police that the killer was a doctor. [3] However, the police have never had any real leads in the case.

The following four women are confirmed victims of the Monster of Udine:

Investigators believe the following women may be victims of the Monster of Udine, but have been unable to confirm with absolute certainty: [4]

Considering the different modi operandi, there could have been more than one murderer active in the same area, at the same time. In 2019 the Carabinieri Forensic Science Dept. (RIS), in Parma, were asked to analyse the new evidence and ascertain whether those crimes are to be attributed to one or more (serial) murderers. [2]

See also

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Cottingham</span> American serial killer (born 1946)

Richard Francis Cottingham is an American serial killer who was convicted in New York of six murders committed between 1972 and 1980 and convicted in New Jersey of twelve murders committed between 1967 and 1978. He was nicknamed by media as the Torso Killer and the Times Square Ripper, since some of the murders he was convicted of included mutilation.

Volker Eckert was a German serial killer, who killed at least six women in East Germany, France and Spain, between 1974 and 2006. Eckert confessed to only six murders, five of whom were sex workers, but is believed to have killed at least nine women, and is also accused of committing additional murders of women in several European countries including Italy and the Czech Republic, but investigations were closed after Eckert committed suicide during his criminal proceedings on July 2, 2007.

The Beasts of Satan were a group of serial killers, which were tried and convicted of a series of suspected Satanic ritual murders between 1998 and 2004. The persons involved in the group were Andrea "Isidon" Volpe, Nicola "Onussen" Sapone, Paolo "Ozzy" Leoni, Mario "Ferocity" Maccione, Pietro "Wedra" Guerrieri, Marco "Kill" Zampollo, Eros "Kaos" Monterosso, and Elisabetta Ballarin, who wasn't part of the group but was romantically tied to one of the members and was present to the scene of one of the murders. The slayings were called "one of the most shocking crimes in post-war Italy" by the BBC.

Wolfgang Abel and Marco Furlan were a German-Italian serial killer duo who were arrested for a series of murders in northern Italy and one in West Germany between 1977 and 1984. They claimed innocence, saying they were scapegoats for a police force that could not find the real criminals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mario Spezi</span> Italian journalist and author (1945–2016)

Mario Spezi was an Italian journalist, author, illustrator, and caricaturist. He wrote the non-fiction true crime books Dolci Colline di Sangue (2006) and Il Mostro di Firenze (1983). He was a co-author in the book The Monster of Florence A True Story (2008) with American author Douglas Preston. Additionally, he was credited by Preston for providing details used in the novel Brimstone.

The Cataldo 'ndrina is a clan of the 'Ndrangheta, a criminal and mafia-type organisation in Calabria, Italy. This particular 'ndrina is based in Locri, a hotbed of 'Ndrangheta activity. The clan, allied with the Marafioti family, is involved in a long blood feud with the Cordì 'ndrina, from the same town, since the end of the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Monster of Florence</span> Serial killer in Italy – 1968 to 1985

The Monster of Florence is the name commonly used by the Italian media for a non-definitively identified serial killer active within the Metropolitan City of Florence between 1968 and 1985. The Monster murdered 16 victims, usually young couples secluded in search of intimacy, in wooded areas during new moons. Several connected persons have been convicted for involvement in the murders, yet the exact sequence of events, the identity of the main actor and the motives remain unclear.

<i>The Embalmer</i> (1965 film) 1965 Italian film

The Embalmer is a 1965 Italian giallo film directed by Dino Tavella, and starring Gino Marturano, Alcide Gazzotto, and Alba Brotto. Dino Tavella had a very short career in the Italian film industry, writing and directing only two films, The Embalmer and Una Sporca Guerra.

Giuliano Mignini is an Italian magistrate. He retired as a public prosecutor in Perugia, Umbria, in 2020.

<i>The Killer is Still Among Us</i> 1986 film by Camillo Teti

The Killer is Still Among Us is a 1986 Italian horror film written and directed by Camillo Teti, and co-written by Ernesto Gastaldi and Giuliano Carnimeo. It is loosely based on the crimes of the Italian serial killer known as "the Monster of Florence".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Boggia</span> Italian serial killer

Antonio Boggia, aka "Il Mostro di Stretta Bagnera" or "Il Mostro di Milano", is considered the first serial killer of Italy.

Ralph Lyonel Brydges was an English Protestant pastor and paedophile who was accused of being "The Monster of Rome", a suspected serial killer of young girls who was active in Rome from 1924 to 1927. Another man, photographer Gino Girolimoni, was wrongfully accused but later exonerated of the crimes, for which the inspector Giuseppe Dosi later accused Brydges of committing. Brydges was never tried for the crimes, amidst pressure from the British government, and later left Italy, supposedly committing other killings in other countries before his death in 1946.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurizio Minghella</span> Convicted Italian serial killer

Maurizio Minghella is an Italian serial killer, sentenced to life in prison for the murders of ten sex workers in Turin between 1997 and 2001 when he was on parole for killing five women in his hometown in 1978. He had also been convicted of robbery, kidnapping and escape from prison.

Andrea Matteucci, known as The Monster of Aosta, is an Italian criminal and serial killer who committed four murders in the 1980s and 1990s. He is the only Aosta Valley serial killer.

Gino Girolimoni was an Italian photographer wrongly accused of being "The Monster of Rome" who killed children in Rome during the era of Fascist Italy. Girolimoni, il mostro di Roma, a 1972 film by Damiano Damiani, recounts the persecution that Girolimoni underwent in spite of his innocence.

Cesare Serviatti, known as The Landru of the Tiber, was an Italian serial killer who killed at least three women he contacted through lonely hearts ads between 1928 and 1932. Convicted for these crimes, he was sentenced to death and subsequently executed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maurizio Giugliano</span> Italian serial killer (1962–1994)

Maurizio Giugliano, known as The Wolf of Ager Romanus, was an Italian serial killer who killed between two and seven women in Rome and the surrounding area from 1983 to 1984. He later murdered a fellow inmate at a mental hospital in 1993. For these crimes, he was sentenced to life imprisonment and remained imprisoned until his death in 1994.

Peppino Pisanu, known as The Monster of Fossano, is an Italian serial killer. Convicted and sentenced to 27 years imprisonment for killing his sister-in-law and his mother-in-law in Fossano, he was released on parole in 1998, whereupon he killed another woman in Turin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfeo Mizzau</span> Italian politician

Alfeo Mizzau was an Italian politician and author. A business consultant by trade, in 1945 he joined the Christian Democrats, remaining part of it for decades, in which he dedicated himself to intense political activity. He was a member of the European Parliament from 1984 to 1989.

Giancarlo Giudice, known as The Monster of Turin, is an Italian serial killer who murdered nine prostitutes in Turin from 1983 to 1986. Convicted and sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for the crimes, he was released in 2008 and has lived as a free man ever since.

References

  1. "In un ventennio 14 omicidi e 3 arresti". Messaggero Veneto EDIZIONE UDINE (in Italian). 27 January 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 Pizzichi, Alessio (2020-04-18). "La vera storia del mostro di Udine". Auralcrave (in Italian). Retrieved 2020-09-01.
  3. "Mostro di Udine, 13 donne uccise A Chi l'ha visto? nuovi indizi - Cronaca - Messaggero Veneto". Messaggero Veneto (in Italian). 2011-12-11. Retrieved 2018-09-17.
  4. "In un ventennio 14 omicidi e 3 arresti - Cronaca - Messaggero Veneto". Messaggero Veneto (in Italian). 2012-01-27. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2018-09-17.