Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

The Monster of Florence

The Monster of Florence(Italian: Il Mostro di Firenze) is the name commonly used by themedia in Italy for a serial killer who killed 16 people between 1968and 1985 in the Province of Florence. Law enforcement conductedseveral investigations into the cases over the course of severalyears. The courts reached the conclusion that the murders were notcommitted by a single person but by a group of at least fourperpetrators who were convicted and later became known as the "Snackscompanions" (Compagni di merende). The victims were youngamorous couples parked or camped in countryside areas in the vicinityof Florence during new moons. The murderers used multiple weapons,including a .22 caliber Beretta gun and knife, and in half of thecases excised sex organs from the bodies of the female victims, whichappeared to be the motive for the crimes.

Victims

Antonio Lo Bianco and Barbara Locci

Pasquale Gentilcore and StefaniaPettini

Carmela De Nuccio and Giovanni Foggi

Stefano Baldi and Susanna Cambi

Antonella Migliorini and Paolo Mainardi

Wilhelm Friedrich Horst Meyer and JensUwe Rüsch

Claudio Stefanacci and Pia Rontini

Jean Michel Kraveichvili and NadineMauriot

August 21, 1968: Antonio Lo Bianco(29), mason worker, and Barbara Locci, (32) homemaker, lovers. Shotto death with a .22 Beretta in Signa, a small town to the west ofFlorence, while Locci's son Natalino Mele (6) lay asleep in the backseat of the car. The child woke up and, finding his mother dead, fledin fright. At 2 a.m. he arrived at a house at about two kilometersfrom the crime scene and knocked on the door, telling the landlord:"Open the door and let me in, I'm sleepy and my Daddy is sickin bed. Then you have to drive me home, because my Mommy and my uncleare dead in their car." Questioned by the police on howcould such a young child like him walk along a dark and unpavedcountry road for nearly two kilometers, Natalino initially answeredhe had run away alone, then changed his story and stated that eitherhis father or an uncle - a term he had used to describe his mother'slovers – had driven him to the house where he asked for help. Yearslater, Natalino said again that he was alone, but was too shocked toremember exactly what happened on that night. Locci, a native ofSardinia, was famous in the town because of her multiple loveaffairs, and had received the nickname Ape Regina (queen bee). Herolder husband, an ingenuous man named Stefano Mele, was eventuallycharged with the murder and spent six years in jail. However, whilehe was imprisoned, more couples were murdered with the same gun.Several lovers of Locci's were suspected to be perpetrators of thecrime and even Stefano stated on several occasions that one of themhad killed her.

September 15, 1974: PasqualeGentilcore, barman (19), and Stefania Pettini, accountant (18),teenage sweethearts. Shot to death and stabbed in a country lane nearBorgo San Lorenzo while having sex in Gentilcore's Fiat 127. Theywere not far from a notorious disco called Teen Club, where they weresupposed to spend the evening with some friends. Pettini's corpse hadbeen violated with a grapevine stalk and disfigured with 97stab-wounds. Some hours before the murder, Pettini said something toa close friend about a weird man who terrified her. Another friend ofPettini's recalled that a strange man had followed and bothered thetwo of them during a driving lesson a few days before. Severalcouples of lovers who used to "park" in the samearea where Gentilcore and Pettini were murdered stated thatparticular area was frequented by voyeurs, a pair of them acting veryoddly.