The entire story of Giacomo Bozzoli, from the beginning

Giacomo Bozzoli is a man of mystery. He is today, as a fugitive on the run after the Supreme Court upheld the life sentence for the murder of his uncle Mario, who was thrown into the furnace of the family foundry in Marcheno. He was also one in 2015 when suspicions quickly centered on him, placing him at the heart of a complex three-and-a-half-year investigation. Investigators today believe it is likely he is truly abroad, perhaps having escaped on a ship after spending his last days with his partner and child.

But how did we get here? Let's reconstruct the investigation and trial of a case that began on October 8, 2015.

The Marcheno mystery

The Marcheno mystery began on the evening of October 8, 2015, when Mario Bozzoli, a 50-year-old entrepreneur, disappeared without a trace from his foundry on Via Gitti. The alarm was raised at the end of his shift when his wife, Irene Zubani—who was the last person to speak with him on the phone at 7:15 PM—grew suspicious about his failure to return home and alerted the authorities. From that moment on, there was no sign of him. Neither inside the plant nor in the seventeen square kilometers of mountain searched in the following days by dozens of volunteers.

A mystery that sparked complex and lengthy investigations, complicated by the death of Giuseppe Ghirardini, the furnace operator who vanished six days after his employer and was found dead in Case di Viso with a cyanide bait in his stomach. The investigations were challenging from the outset. The first magistrate in charge, Alberto Rossi, died suddenly on January 1, 2017, and his successor, Mauro Leo Tenaglia, was on the verge of closing the case. It was then that then-Chief Prosecutor Pierluigi Maria Dell’Osso took over the investigation, and the hypothesis of the furnace gave way to another reconstruction. This theory suggested that the entrepreneur's body had been taken out of the company, hidden in a slag bag.

The First Article on the Bozzoli Case

"There hasn't been a single piece of evidence in three and a half years of investigation that could suggest the presence of Mario Bozzoli alive; he was killed," commented then-Chief Prosecutor of Brescia, Pierluigi Maria Dell'Osso, at the closure of the investigation.

Mario's nephew, 35-year-old Giacomo Bozzoli, an employee of the foundry jointly owned by his father Adelio and his missing uncle, was accused of the murder and destruction of the body.

January 14, 2021 - First Hearing

The trial before the Brescia Assize Court, with dozens of witnesses and consultants, began on January 14, 2021, more than five years after the entrepreneur's disappearance.

In front of the court presided over by Judge Roberto Spanò, the consultants involved in the investigations appeared during the first marathon hearing, attended by the defendant. In the courtroom, for the first time, the defense broke its silence. Lawyer Luigi Frattini stated, "It is clear that Mario Bozzoli disappeared, but that is not enough to say he was killed. It is the prosecution's burden to prove it, and today there is no evidence. There must be definitive proof that he is dead."

February 25, 2021 - Second Hearing

During the second hearing, Colonel Alberto Marino of the Parma RIS (Scientific Investigation Department) declared that no trace of the missing person was found in the Marcheno foundry furnace, nor in the hood or fumes. "In the hypothesis that a body thrown into the furnace might have exploded, we looked for substances. The result was negative."

March 8, 2021 - Third Hearing

The timeline in which the murder might have been committed was outlined. Eleven minutes: from 7:14:38 PM on October 8, 2015 (the last call received by Giacomo Bozzoli, which he did not answer) to 7:25:21 PM (when the defendant's Porsche Cayenne exited the company's gate for the first time). By cross-referencing phone records, time stamps, and surveillance camera footage, Colonel Amleto Comincini of the ROS Carabinieri reconstructed what happened that evening.

Carabinieri Marshal Salvatore Rossitti also testified, explaining, "At the time of the military's inspection on October 13, 2015, three internal cameras were positioned differently than on the evening of the disappearance." This awareness is significant, combined with the fact that the cameras' time was seven minutes fast, while the employees' time clock was five minutes slow.

March 24, 2021 - Fourth Hearing

Two and a half hours inside the foundry. The Assize Court visited Marcheno for an on-site inspection, retracing all the locations of the disappearance. "It was a significant moment," declared the missing entrepreneur's wife. "I trust the Court, the president, the judges, and the prosecutor to bring out the truth."

March 30, 2021 - Fifth Hearing

In the spotlight in the courtroom was Irene Zubani, Mario Bozzoli's wife, who confirmed her initial version during a three-hour testimony: "Yes, I believe my nephew killed my husband."

She recounted, "When I learned that there was unusual smoke from the foundry furnace that evening, I immediately had a bad feeling." Regarding the relationship between Mario and Giacomo Bozzoli, she stated, "From the beginning, it was not idyllic."

April 21, 2021 - Sixth Hearing

"I believe Giacomo Bozzoli is guilty." After widow Irene Zubani, Mario's sister and Giacomo's aunt, Vittoria Bozzoli, also pointed the finger at her nephew in court. This was yet another rift in a family torn apart.

April 29, 2021 - Seventh Hearing

In front of Assize Court President Roberto Spanò, technical consultants analyzed the foundry furnace remains.

Forensic pathologist Cristina Cattaneo testified, explaining two years of work carried out by a team of 16 experts. The conclusion was unequivocal: "No elements attributable to a human organism were found in the furnace."

Technical consultant Cesare Cibaldi, referring to the absence of traces, cited the 1992 Valtemper of Caionvico murder, where Claudio Cominelli (also a fugitive for seven years) killed his brother Walter by throwing him into a furnace. On that occasion, remains were found even on the workshop ceiling.

May 26, 2021 - Eighth Hearing

A complex hearing where prosecutors Marco Martani and Silvio Bonfigli, along with President Spanò, used all available means, including the threat of a perjury charge, to refresh the witnesses' memories. These were the Bozzoli workers who had clocked out just before the critical minutes of the mystery.

June 3, 2021 - Ninth Hearing

In a trial marked by "I don't remember" and "I don't know" from witnesses, the judge vented: "We are tired of hearing nonsense."

September 22, 2021 - Tenth Hearing

"My brother Mario was a good person, a hard worker. There was no conflict with him or his children. Only envious people say otherwise." This was how Adelio Bozzoli, father of the only defendant Giacomo and co-owner of the foundry, testified in court, repeatedly denying tensions in the company, which other witnesses had claimed.

October 13, 2021 - Eleventh Hearing

In another hearing filled with contradictions, workers Oscar Maggi and Akwasi Aboagye, also known as Abu, testified. They had been under investigation in 2015 for complicity in murder, but the charges were later dropped.

Abu dramatically changed the timeline, stating he saw Mario Bozzoli at 7:30 PM. His colleague Maggi immediately contradicted him, saying he last saw the entrepreneur before the unusual smoke, which occurred at 7:21:34 PM.

November 17, 2021 - Twelfth Hearing

Giacomo's ex-girlfriend, Jessica Gambarini, testified, recalling a supposed murder plan allegedly devised by Giacomo, which she confirmed during the trial. According to her, the missing nephew "had repeatedly expressed hatred for his uncle."

During the same hearing, Giacomo's brother, Alex Bozzoli, who was initially also under investigation, stated: "I still wonder where my uncle is. I defend my brother, who is innocent and facing a life sentence."

Finally, geneticist Giorgio Portera reopened the furnace hypothesis: "If a body was burned inside a furnace and we take samples from the structure, it's normal and obvious that no DNA would be found."

December 9, 2021 - Thirteenth Hearing

"I've been wondering for six years and two months what happened to my uncle.

I still don't have an answer," said Giacomo Bozzoli, the sole defendant for his uncle Mario's murder, in a three-hour deposition, responding to every question without breaks.

Regarding the evening of his uncle's disappearance, he stated: "The carabinieri say I'm innocent. The phone's pedometer showed I took 352 steps between 7:18 and 7:32 PM when they claim I killed my uncle. Abu always said he saw my uncle at 7:30 PM. We had digital clocks on the bulldozers, and he always maintained that. I never crossed paths with my uncle at the foundry that evening. Tell me how I could have killed him?"

December 22, 2021 - Fourteenth Hearing

The defense's expert consultant, chemist Giancarlo Farina, testified: "From what I've verified, I'm certain no body was placed in that furnace. If Bozzoli's body had been thrown into the furnace, the workshop would have filled with black smoke and a terrible smell, and everything would have been covered in soot." To illustrate his point, he showed documentation of a pilot experiment conducted in a small furnace.

At the end of the hearing, Judge Roberto Spanò ordered a new expert examination: forensic pathologist Camilla Tettamanti was asked to determine what reaction a human body would have when inserted into a foundry furnace.

January 19, 2022 - Fifteenth Hearing

Giacomo Bozzoli's current partner, Antonella Colossi, who had been with him during the initial phase of his fugitive status, testified in his defense: "I am absolutely convinced of his innocence." During the same hearing, the Assize Court posed the question for the new expert examination: "The expert is asked to determine the thermal effect of a human body in contact with a bath of molten metal. Furthermore, is it possible to insert a human body with Mario Bozzoli's characteristics into the Bozzoli Srl foundry furnace?"

March 30, 2022 - Sixteenth Hearing

It was the experts' day in court. For the defense, engineer Ugo Gecchelin testified, explaining how he verified the compatibility of the steps taken in the Marcheno foundry by Giacomo Bozzoli between 7:20 and 7:24 PM on October 8, 2015, as recorded by the app on his phone, and the statements made by the defendant during his examination.

Next, forensic pathologist Camilla Tettamanti and engineer Antonio Boccardo – experts for the Assize Court – confirmed that the furnace could have engulfed Mario Bozzoli. Thus, an experiment was necessary using a pig's body (biologically the most similar to a human), killed no more than 24 hours prior and dressed in clothing similar to what Mario Bozzoli was wearing when he disappeared.

April 27, 2022 - Seventeenth Hearing

The judicial experiment ordered by the Assize Court took place at the Gonzini foundry in Provaglio d'Iseo: a dead pig weighing 13.2 kilograms was lowered into a bath of molten metal.

The furnace did not explode, and there was no smell until the hood was lifted.

June 29, 2022 - Eighteenth Hearing

After a year and a half of trial, during which the prosecution maintained that Mario Bozzoli was killed inside his Marcheno foundry by his nephew Giacomo, and then taken out of the company by the same nephew in his car and abandoned, prosecutor Silvio Bonfigli modified the indictment, adding the alternative: that Mario Bozzoli was killed inside the furnace, thus revisiting the initial hypothesis.

The modification came after forensic pathologist Camilla Tettamanti stated in court that "the complete destruction of the body in the furnace would have taken only a few hours."

September 8, 2022 - Nineteenth Hearing

After a year and a half of hearings, the trial concluded. The hearing lasted just over 20 minutes and allowed the defense to obtain the dismissal of the investigation against Giacomo and his brother Alex regarding the death of worker Giuseppe Ghirardini, found dead a few days after his employer.

September 28, 2022 - Twentieth Hearing

Brescia public prosecutors Silvio Bonfigli and Marco Martani requested a life sentence for Giacomo Bozzoli, charged with the murder of his uncle Mario and the destruction of the entrepreneur's body, who vanished on October 8, 2015. "We are certain that Mario's body was destroyed in the foundry furnace," the prosecution explained in their lengthy closing argument.

The prosecution also requested that the acts be forwarded to the Prosecutor's Office for perjury and aiding and abetting for workers Oscar Maggi and Abu, present at the foundry on the day of the murder. "Workers Maggi and Ghirardini played an active role in the subsequent phase when the body was destroyed in the furnaces, and they were present," was the prosecution's thesis.

For the public prosecutors: "Giacomo is violent and domineering. He hated his uncle and wanted to kill him, planning his death in minute detail for years." The prosecutors added: "For us, Mario Bozzoli was killed beyond any reasonable doubt by his nephew Giacomo in the foundry furnace."

September 29, 2022 - Twenty-First Hearing

The defense requested Giacomo Bozzoli's acquittal. "There is no evidence accusing Giacomo, but only evidence in his favor, which categorically excludes the possibility that he could have attacked his uncle or had him attacked by others," said lawyer Luigi Frattini after a two-and-a-half-hour defense speech. "I ask you to put an end to this very sad case that does no honour to Italian and Brescia justice. I ask you to acquit the defendant either because the facts do not exist or because Giacomo did not commit any of the alleged acts and to end the suffering of poor Giacomo and his family."

September 30, 2022 - Twenty-Second Hearing

The Brescia Assize Court, presided over by Judge Roberto Spanò, after more than 24 hours of deliberation, sentenced Giacomo Bozzoli to life imprisonment.

November 17, 2023 - Second Degree Sentence

The Brescia Court of Appeal confirmed the life sentence for Giacomo Bozzoli. The sentence was read after seven hours of deliberation.

The prosecution had requested confirmation of the life sentence, while the defense had requested acquittal, and that morning Giacomo Bozzoli, almost in tears, had said to the judges: "I swear on what I hold most dear in the world that I did nothing."

In the 154 pages of motivations confirming the life sentence on appeal for Giacomo Bozzoli, it reads: "The murder of Mario Bozzoli was committed in a restricted spatial and temporal context involving, besides the defendant, Ghirardini and Maggi. This is the dominant piece of evidence in the trial." According to the appellate judges, money and strained family relationships were the motives behind the Marcheno murder.

July 1, 2024 - Supreme Court Sentence

The judges of the Supreme Court in Rome confirmed the maximum sentence for Giacomo Bozzoli: the life sentence is final.

That same evening, the carabinieri knocked on Bozzoli's door in Soiano: no one answered. Giacomo Bozzoli had escaped.