Italy’s most famous serial killer terrorized Florence for decades with a series of brutal murders, but we still don’t know who did it.
A new mini-series explores several theories around the true identity of the anonymous killer. The Monster of Florence, which is now streaming on Netflix, offers a dramatized take on the decades-old killings, following several suspects in the case.
Dubbed the “Monster of Florence” by the media, the killer is known to have murdered at least 16 people between the 1960s and ‘80s, mostly targeting young couples. Despite multiple arrests and convictions, the case remains officially unsolved.
Here’s what you should know about the real-life murders.
How did the Monster of Florence killings start?
The Monster of Florence’s murder spree began in August 1968 when homemaker Barbara Locci and Antonio Lo Bianco, with whom she was having an affair, were fatally shot with a .22-caliber hand gun on the outskirts of Florence. The pair were attacked in their parked car with Locci’s 6-year-old son asleep in the backseat. Her husband, Stefano Mele, was convicted of their murders in 1970, but was later released after the killings continued while he was in prison.
The killer struck again in September 1974, murdering teenage couple Pasquale Gentilcore and Stefania Pettini. The couple were found shot and stabbed to death in Gentilcore’s car, which was parked near a club located northeast of Florence. Pettini’s body had been sexually mutilated, like many of the Monster of Florence’s other female victims.
When did police realize there was a serial killer?
As the gruesome murders continued, Italians in and around Florence were gripped with fear. Several years went by before the killer surfaced again in 1981, attacking two engaged couples: Giovanni Foggi and Carmela De Nuccio and Stefano Baldi and Susanna Cambi.
The following June, mechanic Paolo Mainardi and dressmaker Antonella Migliorini were found shot and stabbed. While Mainardi was still alive when police arrived on the scene, he died of his injuries at the hospital. Their deaths prompted authorities to finally connect the cases.
Were all the victims couples?
While most of the victims consisted of romantic couples, there was one exception. German students Wilhelm Friedrich Horst Meyer and Jens-Uwe Rüsch, both young men, were shot and killed in September 1983 as they slept in their car. Authorities suspected the killer mistook Rüsch for a woman, due to his long hair.
The Monster of Florence soon resumed his modus operandi, killing another couple in July 1984. This time, Claudio Stefanacci, a student, and bartender Pia Gilda Rontini were shot and stabbed in Stefanacci’s car. Rontini’s body had been left with one breast and severely mutilated in the pubic region.
When did the Monster of Florence murders stop?
The last known murders took place in September 1985, when a young French couple, Jean Michel Kraveichvili and Nadine Mauriot, were shot and stabbed while camping in the south of Florence. After their bodies were found, the prosecutor’s office received a package containing a taunting letter from the killer and part of Mauriot’s breast.
Who was convicted of the murders?
In addition to Mele, multiple other suspects were arrested and convicted of the brutal killings, but the most notable was Italian farm laborer Pietro Pacciani. A convicted rapist and murderer, Pacciani had already served 13 years in prison when police arrested him in the Monster of Florence killings in 1994.
The only physical evidence against him was an unfired .22 caliber bullet found in his garden. Still, Pacciani was convicted of seven of the eight double murders before his conviction was overturned two years later, in 1996. A new trial was ordered, but he died before he could be retried.
Convinced Pacciani had accomplices, police arrested his friends Mario Vanni, Giancarlo Lotti, and Giovanni Faggi in 1998. Vanni had been a witness at Pacciani’s trial, during which he claimed the two men were merely “snack buddies.” Vanni and Lotti were eventually found guilty after Lotti confessed, and were each convicted of four of the eight double murders in 2000.
However, the Monster of Florence case is far from shut.
Will be the case be reinvestigated?
In March 2022, Valter Biscotti, a lawyer for three of the victims’ families claimed there were “inconsistencies” in Lotti’s confession and called for the case to be reopened. “We are looking for the truth, with a new investigation, and we’re convinced that there are elements in the old case files that were wrongly overlooked,” Biscotti told AFP.
Two years later, in August 2024, Lorezo Iovino, M.D., studied DNA analysis from the crime scenes and found the same set of DNA on bullets found at three of the double homicides. While the DNA sample’s origin is unknown, it could be the key to cracking the decades-old case.
How to Watch The Monster of Florence on Netflix
The new four-part Netflix limited series, created by Leonardo Fasoli and Stefano Sollima, is a dramatized version of the investigation of the case, which remains open today. The Monster of Florence is now streaming on Netflix.
Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.
