Italy reopens Pasolini murder case
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The gist
Rome prosecutors reopened the probe into director Pier Paolo Pasolini's 1975 murder on the death's 51st anniversary.
The convicted killer recanted, and the original ruling doubted he acted alone.
Background
Pier Paolo Pasolini was an Italian director, poet, novelist and writer, known for films including Mamma Roma and Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom. He was killed in 1975 at age 53 in Ostia, outside Rome. Giuseppe "Pino" Pelosi, then 17, confessed and was convicted of the murder in 1976, but recanted in 2005, saying he had not acted alone. Rome attorney Stefano Maccioni has investigated the crime for years and filed the petitions to reopen it; the new inquiry follows the emergence of a previously unknown witness.
How it unfolded
- Nov 2, 1975Giuseppe "Pino" Pelosi, 17, was detained and confessed to the murder the day after the death, saying Pasolini tried to rape him.
- 1976Pelosi was found guilty of the murder.
- 1983Pelosi was granted parole and released early.
- 2005Pelosi recanted his confession in a television interview, claiming he had not been alone and blaming three unnamed men with Sicilian accents.
- 2010The prosecutor's office reopened the case; the investigation failed to identify new suspects and was closed in 2015.
- 2016A petition to reopen the investigation was rejected by prosecutors.
- 2017Pelosi died of cancer at the age of 58.
- 2023Petitions to reopen the case were rejected; a petition by Maccioni focused on DNA profiles was rejected on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient.
- Nov 2025Lawyer Stefano Maccioni filed a petition to reopen the case on behalf of the Lazio Order of Journalists, director Davide Grieco and writer Giovanni Giovannetti.
- May 2026The submission was supplemented with new materials.
- Nov 1, 2026 -2, 1975Pasolini, 53, was killed in the coastal district of Ostia outside Rome; his body was found at the Idroscalo with signs of a violent assault, and his own car had been used to run him over.
- Nov 2, 2026Rome prosecutors opened a new investigation into Pasolini's murder on the 51st anniversary of his death; the case was assigned to deputy prosecutor Silvia Santucci.
Key terms
- prosecutors
- A legal official who represents the state in bringing criminal charges against an accused person in court.
- parole
- The early release of a prisoner who agrees to follow behavioral conditions and supervision outside prison.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Support
- Lawyer Stefano Maccioni said he felt "emotion and satisfaction" at the decision to carry out new investigations, and appealed to anyone who knows something about the case to come forward now.
- Caution
- Prosecutors rejected the 2023 petition focused on DNA profiles on the grounds that the evidence was insufficient.
Still unverified
Maccioni said recently discovered archival footage and other evidence allegedly indicate Pelosi was not alone that night, and said DNA tests had shown there were other people at the crime scene and Pelosi himself may not have been present. Theories about why Pasolini was killed range from blackmail to a hit by the far-right or mafia.