On TV at “Quarto Grado”, Andrea Sempio responds to the new accusations: from the receipt to the witness, from the money to the intercepted audio. “Never corrupted anyone”
The voice is firm, the gaze tense but controlled. After weeks of silence and in the aftermath of the new judicial developments, Andrea Sempio, the man now under investigation in the reopening of the investigation into the murder of Chiara Poggi, has spoken again. He did it live on TV, during the episode of Fourth Degree aired on Rete4, hosted by Gianluigi Nuzzi with Alessandra Viero. A long interview, in which Sempio addressed point by point the accusations, rumors and suspicions that have surrounded him for months.
The first reference is to the receipt, at the center of a new line of investigation and conflicting testimonies. “I’m curious to see how he will document it because it’s totally false,” Sempio said, referring to those who claim that the document does not belong to him. «I don’t know who this person is, we’ll see if he really exists. The news is far-fetched.”
He then explained his version of that summer day in 2007, in Garlasco: «I had gone to the bookshop the day before, but found it closed. We returned the next day, the 14th. I didn’t remember it, but an audio of mine from 2017 emerged in which I said I was there on both days. It is evidence that could not be constructed.”
The relationship with the former lawyer Lovati
Nuzzi then pressed Sempio on his relationship with Massimo Lovati, his legal historian, now under investigation in another investigation and often cited as a key figure. «Lovati is not behind any of this. In my opinion it wouldn’t lend itself to a game like this. And there is no secret that he could reveal about me”, clarified Sempio. «I still have respect and affection for him. What really matters is not the trial, but the media massacre. You defend yourself and they say you justify yourself, you don’t defend yourself and they say you have something to hide.”
The mysterious witness and the accusations of rituals
Regarding the alleged witness Flavius Savu, who allegedly spoke of satanic rites and violence, Sempio responded without hesitation: «I’ve never seen him, I don’t know who he is. I have never frequented the Bozzole, as they say. Only sometimes for the Easter fair. Everything else is just another lie.”
“Never took any money or paid anyone”
Another delicate point concerns alleged payments to magistrates or law enforcement agencies. Sempio categorically denied it: «There has never been any payment by any broadcaster. It’s easy to verify. And it makes no sense to talk about corruption: the numbers don’t add up, nor the people. And, above all, the magistrate could not have decided on the dismissal alone.”
Also regarding the confusion of his father, Giuseppe Sempio, who in a statement had spoken of a “spending forecast of 20-30″, Sempio explained: «He got confused. In the house there was a sheet of paper where he had written down all the expenses for the lawyers, written in thousands of euros. When he writes 20-30, he means 20-30 euros.”
“Never bleed in front of sharks”
To those who point out his almost disarming calm, Sempio responds with a phrase that sounds like a motto: «Never bleed in front of sharks. We try to appear as calm as possible.”
Regarding fingerprint 33, the alleged partial DNA and the calls which, according to the prosecution, could place him at the crime scene, the defense remains firm: «They are short calls, made days before. It’s all forced.”
And on the 44 footprint, which would correspond to his shoe size, Sempio jokes: «It seems strange to me that in eight years of trials no one has ever said it before. If it had been real, they would have used it right away. Now suddenly it becomes decisive?”.
“I had nothing to do with it”
In the end, the sentence that sums it all up: «I have nothing to do with this story. The process that exists now is inevitable, it comes upon me and I just have to wait for it to pass.” A case that, eighteen years later, continues to generate shadows, questions and partial truths. But also a man who, in front of cameras and accusations, continues to repeat the same word: Calm.
