The audio of a phone call dated September 24, 2007 between Rita Preda and her niece appears: «I don’t regret what I did»
“I’m happy with what I did and I don’t regret it.” The words of Rita Preda, mother of Chiara Poggispoken on September 24, 2007 in a phone call with his niece Stefania Cappahave literally invaded the web after being previewed by Francesca Bugamelli on the YouTube channel «Bugalalla Crime». An interception that investigators at the time defined as “irrelevant for the purposes of the investigation”, but which today reopens questions about what the victim’s mother really knew.
The conversation took place in the afternoon of the same day in which Alberto Stasi was declared in custody after the alleged discovery of blood on the pedals of his bicycle. An arrest that turned out to be unfounded: it wasn’t blood residue but genetic material of indefinite origin. Stasi will be released from prison shortly afterwards.
“I don’t want to talk to anyone”
We are just over a month away from the Garlasco crime. The investigations are in full swing and the phones of people connected to the victim are being tapped. The phone call, which lasted 2 minutes and 31 seconds, was transcribed by Marshal Flavio Devecchi with an indirect speech, then archived as irrelevant.
«Oh aunt, how are you?», asks Stefania. «Good, as usual», replies Rita, who initially confuses her niece with her twin Paola. “We wanted to know how you were after the news on the news.” Chiara’s mother cuts it short: «For me someone… I don’t know, I always have my beliefs and that’s it. I won’t tell you anything either.”
When Stefania suggests going to see her to let off steam, Rita refuses: «I prefer to be alone because the less I see the less I feel. This is something that happened to me and I don’t want to talk to anyone about it. Everyone has their say, right? I don’t want to hear.”
Then comes the sentence that sparked the debate: «I’m just saying that I’m happy with what I did and I don’t regret what I did. Of everything I’ve done up to this moment.” Stefania reassures her: “You did well, if you felt it was right.” And Rita reiterates: “It was right and I am not sorry and I don’t allow anyone to pass judgment on me.”
The sorrow for “him” (probably Stasi)
But there is a more enigmatic passage. Rita expresses a concern: «I’m sorry for many things». Stefania tries to console her: “Maybe then we’ll find another solution.” And Rita replies: «Maybe, I hope so especially for him». That “he” seems to refer precisely to Alberto Stasi, who was 24 years old at the time.
«Eh, because he’s 24 years old and it’s right that he starts a new life and everything», confirms Stefania. «But no, for many things», Rita replies enigmatically. AND when the granddaughter still insists (“The important thing is that you don’t keep everything inside”), Chiara’s mother abruptly closes: “It’s enough, Stefania.”
The unanswered questions
What is Rita Preda happy about? What don’t you regret? And why she feels sorry “especially for him”presumably Stasi, the boy who had been arrested a few hours earlier and who years later would be definitively convicted of the murder of his daughter?
The interception, considered irrelevant at the time by the judicial police, today is part of an increasingly complex investigative mosaic, where any detail – even the apparently insignificant one – could instead be relevantwhere every unspoken word perhaps weighs even more than those spoken. And where the boundary between procedural truth and human truth continues to be very, very elusive.
