Sergio Curreli

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Sergio Curreli (born 1960 in Arbus, Sardinia) is an Italian killer known as The Monster of Arbus. He murdered five people in Sardinia between 1982 and 1990, sometimes with accomplices, and was sentenced to life in prison.

Background
Curreli worked as a herder in Arbus. He was married to Daniela Montoni and had two daughters. In the early 1980s he turned to robbery, became addicted to drugs, and abused his wife and children. He formed a gang that carried out organized robberies and, at times, murders-for-hire.

Crimes
- 4 September 1982: On a dirt road near Su Pistoccu, in a camper van, he killed a German banker, Siegfried Heilmann, and Marie Heide Helken-Jäger, who was shot after being assaulted. Curreli later said the killings followed a dispute over his hunting dog. He claimed to steal money from the vehicle and discarded the shotgun.
- 22 September 1986: He killed Antonio Frau by hanging him in his sheepfold to steal eight million lire. He later described this as a prank by his gang that went wrong.
- May 1990: He was hired to kill Luigi Melis, a butcher who planned to quit the business. Melis was shot and killed on 6 May.
- November 1990: He killed Modeno Tuveri in Guspini, lured him to an isolated spot, and shot him. The body was burned in a landfill near Marrubiu with his associate Luigi Mulvoni.

Capture and conviction
In 1992, Germany pressed for the murders of Heilmann and Helken-Jäger to be solved, offering a large bounty. Curreli came under suspicion in the other killings, and police found illegal weapons and drugs in his sheepfold. He confessed to the three murders committed between 1986 and 1990, and his wife Daniela revealed that he had confessed to the German double murder years earlier.

Trial and sentence
Curreli and 12 others were convicted in connection with the crimes. He and Luigi Mulvoni received life sentences; Mulvoni was also linked to the Melis and Tuveri murders.

Later developments
Two years after his arrest, Curreli told authorities he knew who killed carabinieri Attilio Mazzoni and Leonardo Nencetti in Desulo in 1992, naming Giannetto Casula. Casula was acquitted, and Curreli faced perjury charges. It is unclear whether he was convicted of that charge or time served.