Murder of Chiara Poggi

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Murder of Chiara Poggi (short, easy-to-understand version)

On the morning of August 13, 2007, 26-year-old Chiara Poggi was murdered in the villa she shared with her family in Garlasco, Lombardy, Italy. She had opened the door in her pajamas, suggesting the attacker knew her and that there was no forced entry. Chiara’s body was found on the stairs to the cellar, and the crime stunned Italy with extensive media coverage.

Chiara’s boyfriend, Alberto Stasi, an economics student, reported the body. He had an alibi that he was working on his computer to finish a thesis. He was arrested in September 2007 but released a few days later for lack of solid evidence. Investigators noted clues that raised questions, such as his shoes being unusually clean and the lack of blood on his clothes, and they focused on a 23-minute window between 9:12 and 9:35 a.m.

The case went through many trials over the years. In 2009, Stasi was acquitted in the first trial. In 2011, an appeals court questioned the alibi but did not convict him. In 2013, the Supreme Court overturned the acquittal and ordered new forensic tests.

In the second appeal, around 2014–2015, Stasi was found guilty of voluntary homicide and sentenced to 24 years in prison, a sentence later reduced to 16 years in an abbreviated trial. The Supreme Court in 2015 confirmed the 16-year sentence, saying the evidence pointed to his guilt even though the exact motive was not stated.

Stasi has maintained his innocence and has repeatedly sought reviews of the case. The attempts to overturn the conviction through national and European courts were rejected in 2021, 2023, and 2025.

In the meantime, Chiara Poggi’s family received civil compensation from Stasi; he agreed to pay around 700,000 euros, with further obligations in place. He has also faced unrelated charges, such as a separate conviction for false testimony by a former police officer about a bicycle linked to the case, and he faced other legal pressures over the years.

As of 2025, investigators reopened the Poggi case to examine new DNA evidence and a person named Andrea Sempio, a friend of Chiara’s brother, as part of ongoing efforts to understand what happened. The motive behind Chiara Poggi’s murder remains officially unknown, and the case continues to attract attention and debate.