A school film with Andrea Sempio on Chiara Poggi’s PC viewed three days before the murder becomes an investigative key
Garlasco’s crime is perpetually shrouded in a thick blanket of doubts and oddities, which never seems to leave room for what we could define as the “sun of truth”. Inside the blanket there is a school classroom, a breaking teacher’s desk, and suppressed laughter. And in the middle, recognizable, the suspect Andrea Sempio together with other teenagers. For years this short video shot in 2007 in a technical institute in Lomellina remained an overlooked detail among the many elements of Chiara Poggi’s murder. Today, in the new phase of the investigation, that video has become a key that the investigators are trying to uncover with extreme care.
The video in 3gp format, resumed on 13 March 2007 at Ipsia in Sannazzaro de’ Burgondiwas found on Chiara’s computer. According to the metadata, it was transferred to her PC at 5.01pm on July 20, 2007, less than a month before the girl was killed. A detail that at first was not considered worthy of note, but which is now taking on increasingly significant importance.
What’s wrong with the video
The controversial point concerns when Chiara actually saw that video. Some sources claim that the file was opened at 4.28pm on August 14, 2007, when the house and computer were already under seizure following the murder the previous day. Other media reconstructions hypothesize an earlier vision, even on August 10th. The first version is based on reports and technical testimonies, the second has no official confirmation.
A delicate aspect that emerged during the first trials concerns the management of digital material: two IT experts explained that the video was displayed “in a manner that does not comply” with best digital retrieval practicesleaving traces of technical operations that today complicate the forensic interpretation of data. A violation of the chain of custody which could affect the evidentiary weight of certain times recorded, and therefore the very resolution of the Garlasco crime.
The context of the recovery also generated discussions: daylight can be seen in the video, in contrast to the hypothesis of evening access to a closed building. An apparently minor detail, but decisive in establishing whether that video demonstrates illicit behavior or simply a school prank.
The hunt for «Ignoto 3»
The Public Prosecutor’s Office of Pavia recently called at least five former school friends of Andrea Sempio as people informed of the facts. A targeted action that serves to identify any figures remaining in the shadows, cross-reference names with records, telephone numbers, times and genetic profiles already isolated.
This is where the search for “Ignoto 3” comes in, a male profile found on a gauze used for Chiara’s oral swab. Investigators combed through school records and even a class photo of the year 2005/2006, hypothesizing that the identity could be hidden in the circle of peers close to Sempio.
Already in the summer of 2025, news had spread of documentary acquisitions in the schools attended by the suspect, a sign that the Prosecutor’s Office had been working for some time on a mapping of the relationships. Today, with the close hearings, that map must be filled with precise declarations: times, memories, circumstances. Details that taken individually may seem irrelevant, but put together can make a big difference.
The Garlasco crime is thus enriched with a new piece, where a seemingly harmless school video is transformed into an investigative element. The blanket remains, of course, but any element that can dissolve it and do justice is more than welcome.
