The former policeman chosen by the defense: a few months ago he supported the opposite, now he speaks of manipulations. The investigations on Chiara Poggi’s crime widen to concentric circles
The crime of Garlasco, from 2007 to today, has never known a definitive word. Indeed, every time it seems to have reached a fixed point, a new track appears, a name that re -emerges, a consultation that overturns the table. After the condemnation of Alberto Stasi, the reopening of the file on Andrea Semplio, friend of Chiara Poggi, has restored impetus to a story that for many Italians remains the “yellow of the yellow”.
The last chapter bears the signature of Armando Palmegiani, a former chief commissioner of the scientific police, called to defend Semplio after the release of Luciano Garofano, historic commander of the Ris of Parma. A choice that surprised and divided.
The video that weighs like a boulder
To surprise it is not the career of Palmegiani – dotted with complex black news cases, from the Circeo massacre to the crime of Sara di Pietrantonio – but his own words. In a video, still available on YouTube, only a few months ago he claimed that “the DNA under the nails of Chiara is attributable to the semiumio” and that the notorious “trace 33” represented “a very strong clue”.
Now, however, Palmegiani himself brakes: “My words have been extrapolated from a wider speech. What I meant is that that genetic profile is partial, incomplete and scientifically too light to hold in the procedural site”. Translated: even if it were attributable to semium, it could be contamination or occasional contact.
“I don’t remember” and the defense strategy
When the courier points out that in the past he had expressed opposite evaluations, the consultant will entrench himself behind a “I don’t remember”. An answer that has turned on other controversies. His explanation? “In that phase I did not have all the documents available.” A backward march that feeds doubts rather than dissipating them, above all because the DNA node under the nails of Chiara Poggi has always been considered one of the most delicate and controversial points of the entire investigation.
For the lawyers of Semplio, Massimo Lovati and Angela Taccia, the choice of Palmegians is not inconsistent: “Even experts can change his mind in light of new elements”, they said. But the suspicion remains that divergent versions can weigh like boulders in the media process that has been accompanied for years for this crime.
The hot autumn provided for by De Rinesis
On the opposite front, the lawyer Antonio De Rinesis, historic defender of Alberto Stasi, has no doubts: “The investigation will expand”. On TV he spoke of an “incandescent scenery” and foreseen crucial weeks for the fate of the investigation.
The enlargement to which it refers concerns the former prosecutor of Pavia, Mario Venditti, accused of having received between 20 and 30 thousand euros to archive the semium position in 2017. Not any figure, but money that, according to the accusation, would have passed through in the form of family allowances and cash withdrawals in the same period.
The long shadow of Venditti
Venditti, now retired, has strongly rejected the accusations by talking about “distortion of the reporting function” and filed an appeal to the review against searches and kidnappings. In the meantime, to avoid shadows on the body he presided, he has announced his resignation from the champion of Italian champion. A facade decision or a gesture of responsibility?
What is certain is that the possible involvement of a magistrate in a corruption affair linked to a murder case already symbolic in itself risks widening the wound in citizens’ trust in justice.
A story without peace
The next stop will be the evidentiary accident with the geneticist Denise Albani: it will be up to her to establish whether that male profile under Chiara’s nails is truly attributable to semium. An answer that may not close the story, but it will certainly relaunch it in a judicial autumn that promises to be, once again, incandescent.
