Transcript: 72. The Monster of Florence (Part 2) | Italy

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Today’s episode of Evidence Locker is the second of a two-part case. We recommend you listen to our episode “Italy – The Monster of Florence (Part 1)” before listening to Part 2.

A series of brutal killings haunted the Tuscan countryside from 1968 to 1985. Over the span of two decades, at least 16 people lost their lives to a sadistic prowler who hunted his victims, all young lovers in parked cars, on moonless summer nights. 

The killer found the couples in desolate spots, walked up to them, shot them through the window, using a .22 calibre Beretta. He removed the female’s body from the car, dragged it a distance away and mutilated them with a notched bladed knife. 

In 1968, Barbara Locci and her lover Antonio Lo Bianco were shot at point blank range from the backseat window of their car. The shots woke Barbara’s six-year-old son who was sleeping in the back, but he has never been able to identify his mother’s killer. 

Six years later, Pasquale Gentilcore and his girlfriend Stefania Pettini were killed in a similar fashion. This time, however, the killer dragged the female victim out of the car after he shot her. He stabbed her 97 times and inserted a dried piece of grapevine into her vagina. The case remained unsolved for many years. 

But the killer was not done… In 1981, he struck again. Giovanni Foggi and Carmela De Nuccio were killed in the Florentine Hills near their hometown of Scandicci. Like Stefania, Carmela was dragged from the car, but this time, the killer removed her entire pubic area with a notched knife. The bullets used in the murder, matched the ones from the previous murder. A local peeping tom was arrested, but when another murder occurred some months later, he was released.

The second murder of 1981, was somewhat out-of-pattern for the killer. It was in the fall and it was not a moonless night. However, the characteristics of the murder were the same as before. Investigators believed that Stefano Baldi and Susanna Cambi were killed to prove that police that they had caught the wrong man.

The following summer, there was another murder. Paolo Mainardi and Antonella Migliorini were cautious when they parked off a busy road to make out. The killer struck, killing Antonella instantly. Paolo survived and tried to make an escape in his car, but the car got stuck when he reversed into a ditch. Passing cars came to his help and the killer could not complete his sordid ritual. Sadly, Paolo passed away later that same night.

It wasn’t until the fourth murder that police realised they were dealing with a serial killer. Serial killing was not a common occurrence in Italy in the 70s and early 80s and police were stumped. The Italian media dubbed the killer: Il Mostro di Firenze (The Monster of Florence). An anonymous letter tipped police off about the 1968 murder, and they were able to prove that the same gun was used in that murder too.

A year after the murders of Paolo Mainardi and Antonella Migliorini, the killer was on the hunt again. This time, he killed two German art students, Horst Meyer and Uwe Rüsch. A torn up gay magazine was found on the grass next to their VW van, causing investigators to believe that the killer reacted in anger when he realised that the slender young Horst with his long blonde hair was not a woman. 

Police were concerned that the killer might escalate his behaviour, out of anger that he had been prevented from performing his ritual of removing the female victim’s vagina. And they were right… The next murder happened in July of 1984. Claudio Stefanacci and Pia Rontini were killed in Claudio’s Fiat near the village of Vicchio. This time, the killer was able to perform his sordid ritual, but he took it a step further, by tearing off Pia’s left breast.

The final killing took place 14 months later at the campsite of two French tourists. Jean Michel Kraveichvili and Nadine Mauriot were lured out of their tent. Nadine was shot in the face and died instantly. Michel was injured, but managed to run into the woods before his assailant caught up with him and killed him. Nadine’s body suffered the same mutilation as Pia’s did: the killer removed her vagina and her left breast. Her nipple was sent to prosecutor Silvia Della Monica along with a taunting letter.

The Monster of Florence rose to Boogy man status and was feared by the whole region. Although he was called ‘The Monster of Florence’, none of his murders were actually committed in the city of Florence, only in the surrounding countryside with his victims often coming from smaller towns outside of Florence.

A peasant farmer with a violent streak was convicted for the murders, but his conviction was overturned two years later. Pietro Pacciani passed away before he could have a second trial.  

The investigation exposed the underbelly of Florence. Behind the façade of art and beauty lay a sinister world of perversion, violence, jealousy, extortion and ritualistic practice. The problem was… Nobody knew exactly what it was that drove The Monster to kill. 

He was calculated and the murders were planned-out. To date, a shadow of uncertainty hangs over the case and one has to wonder if The Monster of Florence will ever be brought to justice…

>>Intro Music

In 1996 Italian law enforcement raised their glasses, celebrating the conviction of Pietro Pacciani, The Monster of Florence. The investigation was arduous and complex, but for a moment it seemed they had solved the 30-year mystery. The man who had terrorised Florence was behind bars and people would be able to sleep at night, knowing they were safe. 

There had been no killings bearing the same characteristics since 1985, ten years before Pacciani was convicted. People were sceptical about the guilt of the ageing man in ill health – the public was not 100% convinced that he was guilty. 

As for his ‘Picnic Companions’… The general feeling was that Mario Vanni and Giancarlo Lotti were two simpletons who were in over their heads. They were led to confess and even when they did so, their statements about the murders did not match up with the evidence. 

Nin Filastò, Mario Vanni’s defence attorney, has his own theory about the identity of the Monster of Florence. He believes The Monster was responsible for the 1968 killing of Barbara Locci and Antonio Lo Bianco and that the answer was closer to home. 

According to the lawyer, the Monster is likely a police officer, who used his position of authority when he approached the couples. His theory is based on the fact that, at many of the scenes, vehicle registration was found at the feet of the driver, suggesting that they had taken it out and shown it shortly before they were killed. Eyewitnesses also mentioned a police car with a solo officer patrolling the area on the nights of the murders – something that was never done, as the police always patrolled in pairs. 

This theory does hold some weight. If a police officer was in fact behind the killings, he could have tampered with evidence or even planted evidence at Pacciani’s home. Because of the tip-offs at crucial times of the investigation, Filastò reckons the perpetrator was someone who had inside knowledge about the investigation. 

In Italy, each crime is assigned a prosecutor to oversee the investigation. In a case like this one, each separate murder case had its own prosecutor, even though it was regarded as the work of the same killer. Because of the high profile of the case, some officials saw an opportunity for career advancement and were so focussed on making a name for themselves, that the integrity of the investigation came into question.

In 2001, Vanni and Lotti were serving life sentences for their alleged roles in the Monster murders. But investigators still wondered if the so-called ‘Picnic Companions’ acted on their own accord. Were they perhaps contracted by someone more powerful to commit the murders?

Prosecutor Michele Giutari believed that the murders were connected with a Satanic cult, operating in the Florence area over the two decades. Giancarlo Lotti’s testimony included a fact that was not taken seriously… He said that a doctor had paid Pacciani to commit the murders and collect the genitalia of the women for ritualistic use.

Prosecutor Giutari told the media about a pyramid-shaped stone that was found near Pacciani’s home – a symbol for cult activity. Giutari’s theory was ridiculed. The type of stone was used by many households in the area as doorstops and nothing suggested that there was an active cult in Pacciani’s village.

Another theory by Giutari and chief prosecutor of Perugia Giuliano Mignini and blogger Gabriella Carlizzi was that the masterminds behind the murders were two local professionals: a pharmacist and a physician. The pharmacist being Francesco Calamandrei and the doctor Francesco Narducci, who headed up a secret society and ordered Pacciani to commit the murders.

To support this theory, they pointed out that Narducci was found drowned in Lake Trasimeno, only a few weeks after the last murder in 1985. Could this be why the killings stopped? 

Narducci’s death was ruled an accidental drowning. Strangely, there was no post-mortem examination. In 2002, after some suspicion regarding his death arose, Narducci’s body was exhumed. It was found that the body in the tomb was not Narducci, but an unidentified man who had been murdered. It was believed that he was killed by members of the Masonic Lodge where Narducci’s father was a member. 

Narducci’s alleged accomplice, pharmacist Francesco Calamandrei was charged with conspiracy to murder. Most people who knew Calamandrei thought it was ridiculous – he was a straight-forward, professional man. There was no evidence that he ever dabbled in the occult. In the end, Calamandrei was acquitted of all charges and Naruducci’s name was cleared.

The Satanic cult theory is still a popular one, with many Italians believing that the ritualistic nature of the murders were somehow related to occult practice. If this theory is the right one, that means that Pacciani and his Picnic Companions were most likely the henchmen, acting on behalf of the cult.

To debunk this theory, one has to prove that these men were innocent. One man who has followed the case from the start, was journalist Mario Spezi. In fact, he was the one who named the killer ‘The Monster of Florence’. In the early 1980s, at the height of the killings, Spezi made sure the story stayed in the news. He followed up on every single lead he could find. He was even invited to various séances where groups of concerned citizens tried to reach out to the spirits of the victims. Spezi left no stone unturned. 

He believed that Pacciani and his Companions were innocent. Spezi had in his possession, crime scene photos of the 1985 murders of the French couple. An entomologist confirmed that, because of the presence and size of maggots on Nadine Mauriot’s body, the couple were most likely killed no less than 36 hours before the photos were taken. This, coupled with the fact that they were supposed to drive back to France on Sunday the 8th of September in order to be home when Nadine’s daughter started her school year on Monday the 9th of September, makes a compelling case for the theory that they were killed on the Saturday night, not the Sunday night. If they were killed on the Saturday night, Pacciani could not have been the killer, as he was at a country fair and many witnesses saw him there all night.

In a twist of fate, prosecutor Mignini had journalist Mario Spezi arrested for the obstruction of justice. He believed that Narducci and Calamandrei had employed The Picnic Companions to do the killings and that Spezi tried to steer the investigation away from them, because he belonged to their sect. 

Together with Douglas Preston, Spezi co-wrote the definitive book on the case, simply named: The Monster of Florence: A True Story. Over the years, Spezi has formed his own theory about who the elusive killer is. He believes that the very first murder, committed in 1968, was the work of the Sardinians. Most likely Salvatore Vinci, as this is what the little boy, Natalino Mele, said in one of his very first interviews.

But Stefano Mele was in prison for the crime. He had confessed and knew facts about the crime that only someone who was at the scene could have known. He tested positive for gunshot residue not long after the murders and said that he had thrown the weapon in an irrigation ditch. Although the weapon was never recovered, Stefano was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. He was released into a halfway house after 14 years, due to his waning mental health.

Mario Spezi managed to interview Mele, who never denied being present when his wife was murdered. He did however mention the gun and said, almost to himself: police must find the gun, or else ‘they’ will never stop killing. This was very significant, because by using the word ‘they’ Mele implied that there was a group of killers. Even if the implication did not mean The Monster was a group, Mele’s statement hinted to the fact that there was more than one person present when his wife and her lover were killed.

Spezi started digging into the past of the Sardinian clan in the Florence area and had a second look at what police uncovered in their investigation of the Sardinian Trail.

Barbara’s family pushed her to marry Stefano Mele, a simpleton from a well-connected family. When the family left Sardinia, Barbara naturally followed them to Tuscany. She was young and excitable and went to bars and movies with men closer in age to her, as her husband was quite a bit older. Her father-in-law despised her for – in his opinion – bringing shame to the family. In an attempt to control her, he iron bars were installed in her first floor bedroom. 

By this time it didn’t matter, because Barbara had her eye on one of the lodgers in the Mele home: Salvatore Vinci. They were not very discreet about their affair and although Stefano was jealous, there wasn’t much he could do to stop it. Barbara fell pregnant and she never disclosed who the father of her child was, but Stefano, as the husband, stepped in as Natalino’s dad. The situation was too much for Stefano’s father to handle and he kicked all of them out of his house.

Barbara carried on her affair with Salvatore for a while, then left him for his brother Francesco. Francesco was more into the crime loving Sardinian ex-pat scene and Barbara loved the danger of it all. But their affair did not last and in August 1968, Barbara moved on to married bricklayer Antonio Lo Bianco.

Barbara had left a trail of destruction in her wake. She had angered the Vinci brothers and to top it all off, she had stolen a large sum of money from her husband, Stefano. The Vinci brothers, spurred on by the Mele family took it upon themselves to get Stefano’s money back, in case Barbara was of the intention of giving it to her new Sicilian lover.

When, on that fateful late summer’s night, Antonio and Barbara parked on the wayside off a country road, with little Natalino asleep on the backseat of the car, their fates were sealed. It was not the first time they had parked in this area to have sex. Their killer and his accomplices laid in wait. As a half-naked Barbara straddled Antonio, the shooter approached the car and shot them through the open back window, holding the Beretta pistol above the sleeping Natalino’s head. He fired and killed both victims instantly. 

After the crime, Stefano Mele took the blame and was sent to prison. In a statement he made later on, during his incarceration, Mele said that Salvatore Vinci was the one who had killed his wife and her lover that night, but that he was there too. Salvatore gave him the gun after he had shot them both and ordered him to shoot one final shot into his wife’s deceased body, to make sure they would not survive. That is why he had gunshot residue on his hand.

Mele confessed that he did not disclose the truth, because Salvatore Vinci blackmailed him. Salvatore had an insatiable sexual appetite and later on, his partners testified about his promiscuity. He loved threesomes and orgy’s and encouraged his second wife to part-take. 

In 1970 Salvatore’s eleven-year-old son, Antonio, who had been living with an aunt in Sardinia, was sent to live with his father and his new wife in Tuscany. Antonio was the little boy who was saved from the gas filled room in which his mother, Barbarina died in Sardinia. The murder with which Salvatore Vinci was charged and found not guilty.

According to the book that Mario Spezi co-wrote with Douglas Preston, the Beretta was acquired by Salvatore when he lived in Sardinia, but it was not exactly clear how it came into his possession. On the night of Barbara and Antonio’s murders, it was recovered by one of Salvatore Vinci’s accomplices after Stefano Mele had thrown it into a ditch.

The relationship between Salvatore and his son, Antonio was always strained. His second wife took Antonio as her own, but when Salvatore’s sexual indiscretions became too much for her to take any longer, she left him. Antonio was left in the care of his father, who did not take well to being a single father. Salvatore’s brother, Francesco took Antonio under his wing and the bond between uncle and nephew became a strong one. 

Antonio often ran away from home, then broke in and stole items to sell. When he was a teenager he threatened his dad, Salvatore, with a scuba knife on one occasion.

Spezi’s theory concludes that Salvatore Vinci was in fact the one who committed the 1968 murder, with the Beretta. He retrieved the weapon and kept it at his home. Antonio the stole the Beretta from his father’s house in a reported burglary in 1974. However, Salvatore never stated that a firearm was stolen. However, the first of the Monster killings was committed a short time later.

Antonio Vinci left Tuscany at the end of 1974, at the age of 15 to live with his aunt in Sardinia. From there he moved to Como, before returning to Tuscany in 1981. He was arrested for illegal possession of a firearm in 1983. He opted to act in his own defence in court, and charges against him were dropped. 

A few things are important to underscore: Antonio was 15 years old at the time of the 1974 murders, but he was somewhat of a teen delinquent, stealing and causing trouble. It is not too far-fetched to presume that he was capable of committing the crime. In the period between 1974 and 1981 when no other murders occurred, he was not living in Tuscany. The fact that he, by his own admission, had threatened his father Salvatore with a scuba knife, does make him look like a plausible candidate for The Monster. . Remember, the pathologist report thought that the notched knife used in the Monster killings was most likely a scuba knife.

Mario Spezi also quotes the FBI profile of the Monster, prepared in 1989 – information that Florentine police did not pay too much attention to. The profile states that he chose the location rather than the victims. He was familiar with the area and only decided on where he would strike when he was confident he would not be detected. He killed the male victims first, to neutralise them. The female victims witnessed in horror and that is when he felt in charge.

Here are some excerpts, quoted directly from the official FBI profiling report: 

“’Possession’ and ritual are very important to this offender. This would explain why the female victims were generally removed some distance from the vehicles containing their male companions. The need for possession, as well as the offender's ritualized display of anger with women in general is further demonstrated by the removal of the victim's breasts and genitals. Mutilation of his victim's sexual organs represents both the sexual inadequacy of the offender as well as his anger toward them.

…

The offender's overall behavior at the scene, including his use of the same and specific implements of crime, suggest that the ritualism inherent in this series of attacks is so important to the offender that he must repeat his offenses in an identical manner in order to achieve satisfaction.

…

…based on available statistics – your offender is more likely to be a white male of Italian origin who is native to the area.

….

The offender is most likely to have lived alone during the years spanning these assaults in a lower middle-class neighborhood. If not living by himself, he will have resided with some family member on whom he is at least in part financially dependent, such as his mother, aunt, grandmother or older sister. He is not likely to be married, since he is not able to sustain successful relationships with peer-age women.

…

The offender is sexually inadequate and immature person who has had little if any consensual sexual contact with a peer-age female. He is likely to suffer from a sexual dysfunction.”

Antonio Vinci was married to his teen-sweetheart in 1982, but the marriage was annulled in 1985 with the reason stated on the documents: his ‘inability to procreate’. He said in an interview with Spezi that his wife could not have children. When Spezi and Preston caught up with Antonio, he was living with an older woman and was not known to have fathered any children. It is strongly suggested that he is in fact, impotent. 

The FBI profile also stated that The Monster most likely had access to an isolated building or home. Chances are that he kept the souvenirs from his victims at the location – a place that was sacred to him. 

Mario Spezi spoke to various connections of Antonio Vinci throughout the years. He always remembered the statement in the FBI’s profile and wondered if Antonio had access to an abandoned house somewhere in Tuscany. One of Antonio’s acquaintances told Spezi about a place he had visited with Antonio on occasion. It was located on a large estate west of Florence, near the town of Capraia.

The man said that inside the home, there was a display cabinet with six locked metal boxes – neatly stacked next to each other. In a half-open drawer beneath the display, the man saw more than one pistol. He did not open the drawer, but thought that one of the weapons was a 22. Calibre Beretta.

Spezi encouraged the man to visit the building with Antonio and tell him all about the visit. The man arranged a visit with Antonio and when he returned, he confirmed that the six boxes were still in place. It looked like they contained something very significant to Antonio, but knowing Spezi’s suspicions about Antonio, he did not dare to ask him what was inside. 

Spezi felt that these six boxes held the key… If you exclude the 1968 murder, which Spezi believed was NOT committed by The Monster, as well as the killing of the German tourists who were male, the total tally of female victims was, in fact, six: Stefania Pettini, Carmela De Nuccio, Susanna Cambi, Antonella Migliorini, Pia Rontini and Nadine Mauriot. The main objective of the killings was to assert his power over women, their mutilated vaginas and breasts were his trophies.

Spezi knew better than to enter the home to confirm the information given to him by his informant, so he contacted police. But instead of looking into the tip, police accused Mario Spezi and Doug Preston of going to the villa and planting evidence. The implication was daunting: for them to have planted evidence, they must have been involved in the Monster killings. Preston was advised to leave Italy and never return, while Spezi had the threat of arrest looming.

All charges against Spezi and Preston were eventually dropped and prosecutors Mignini and Giuttari were indicted for abuse of office.

Today, Antonio Vinci still lives in Florence and works as a driver. During his interview with Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi, he denied being The Monster. But he did admit that it was him that broke into his father, Salvatore Vinci’s home, shortly before the 1974 murders. He also confirmed that he had threatened his father with a scuba knife, which was an unsettling admission…

However, he has never been charged and is presumed innocent. New theories as to the true identity of The Monster keep emerging. 

One of the Picnic Companions, Mario Vanni, after saying that Pacciani was the killer, changed his story and said that the killer was an American man known as ‘Ulysses’. Who exactly he was referring to, is anyone’s guess. Mario Robert Parker was questioned after the murders of the German art students. A car like his was seen parked near the VW minivan on the night of the murders. Parker was born in New Jersey to an Italian mother and an American father. He worked as a designer for Gucci and Prada and lived on Via Giogli, near the scene of the murder. Police did not have any reason to suspect him. Parkers mother and friends said that he was never known as Ulysses as Vanni had claimed. Vanni’s statement was amongst many other accusations and police took it with a grain of salt. 

In May 2018, Italian Magazine, Tempi, published an article suggesting that American serial killer, the Zodiac Killer and the Monster of Florence are one and the same person: Giuseppe ‘Joe’ Bevilacqua, and Italian-American. The anonymous author of the article claims that Bevilacqua explained the code of the Zodiac Killer to him. In more than one puzzle sent by the Zodiac, the names Giuseppe or Joe as well as    the last name Bevilacqua can be deciphered.

Bevilacqua was a New Jersey native who moved to Tuscany in the 1970s where he acted as the director of the US Military Memorial Cemetery of Falciani in San Casciano. 

Let’s indulge in this theory for a minute…

Assuming for the sake of argument that Barbara Locci and Antonio Lo Bianco were in fact victims of the Monster… They were killed on August 21st 1968. The Zodiac claimed his first victim three months later, in December 1968. The last letter sent to the San Francisco Chronicle by the Zodiac, was dated 24 January 1974. Nine months later, in September 1974, Pasquale Gentilcore and Stefania Pettini were killed near Borgo San Lorenzo in Italy. 

During the investigation of the Zodiac, lawyer Melvin Belli claimed to have received a phone call from the Zodiac on the 20th of December, saying it was his birthday. This is the same date as Bevilacqua’s birthday. It was also the date of the first murder in San Francisco, claimed by the Zodiac, 20 December 1968. However, the exact date of the phone call has come into question over the years and should not be taken as gospel.

A graphologist studied the letters written by The Zodiac as well as the letters sent to Florentine law enforcement by The Monster. A letter sent to Italian authorities in 1988 contained signs of the zodiac and an English inscription ‘Me 72 May’. This was interesting, because to the knowledge of police, there was no known murder in May of 1972. So what could the clue possibly mean? The envelope the anonymous Italian writer used, was folded in the same way as the American 'Zodiac’ writer folded his letters.

There was also the spelling error in the letter addressed to prosecutor Della Monica, containing the nipple of one of his victims. Could the mistake be attributed to the fact that the sender was bilingual and spelled Repubblica with only one ‘B’ as one would spell ‘republic’ in English? 

In 1985, Bevilacqua lived about 300 yards away from the scene of the French couple’s murders. German students, Horst Meyer and Uwe Rüsch also parked at a camping spot near the American Monumental Cemetery in Via Degli Scopeti. A security guard asked them to move. They left and found a new spot in Giogoli, where they met with The Monster.

Bevilacqua was a witness at Pietro Pacciani's trial. He had contacted police, inserting himself into the investigation. He testified that he had walked past the French couple’s car and their tent (on the Wednesday before the murders) and that he saw the girl. He claimed that he passed the scene later, but the girl wasn’t there. He recalled many details, which was strange for someone who had merely walked past a camping site without much incident. Why did he remember this so vividly? He told the judge:

“Two, three days before the murder, I went to San Casciano… and I saw the French couple. There was the girl resting in a tree, in a bathing suit and she was sunbathing and her boyfriend was resting in a sleeping bag on the ground. ” 

In court he said that he saw Pietro Pacciani near the campsite of the French couple, dressed in a brown uniform, like a forestry employee. Bevilacqua had been working at the Memorial Cemetery for a while and worked closely with forestry workers, but Pacciani was unknown to him.

Bevilacqua’s testimony was rather strange. He did not want to appear on camera, but he spoke without inhibition. He was caught in a lie about the date of his first arrival in Italy. There were some inconsistencies in his story and the general feeling was that he was joking around rather than giving damning evidence.

Bevilacqua later denied the claims that he had confessed to being the Zodiac as well as the Monster of Florence. He took legal steps against the journalist who wrote the article for Tempi, accusing him of defamation.

But, playing devil’s advocate, let’s keep Bevilacqua out of the theory and see if it stands up… Is The Monster of Florence and The Zodiac the same person?

The profiles of the Monster and the Zodiac have some commonalities: both are believed to be impotent, heterosexual men who struggled to have romantic relationships with women similar in age to them. Both stopped killing at some point and in both cases profilers believe that they moved away from the area where the killings occurred.

From a timeline perspective, it is possible that the same person could have moved between the two areas and committed the crimes in both countries. Although there were similarities in the crimes, there were also many differences. Both killers sought out their victims in lover’s lanes or isolated spots and killed them by shooting. The Monster mutilated his female victims, the Zodiac didn’t. The Zodiac tied his victims up, The Monster didn’t. The Zodiac was very vocal in sending letters to multiple newspapers and taunted police with his cryptic clues and desire for omnipotence. The Monster sent his tip-offs to significant people investigating the case. He was more obsessed with playing cat and mouse with detectives than he was with seeking infamy. 

The Tempi article received a lot of criticism from ardent ‘Zodiologists’. The journalist never recorded the conversation in which Bevilacqua reportedly claimed to be the Zodiac and the Monster, so there was no concrete proof. Also, the deciphering on the Zodiac code after all these years seemed to be somewhat illogical. If you’d like to read the article about ‘how to break the Zodiac Killer’s code, there is a link in the show notes of this episode. 

If the Monster is in fact Joe Bevilacqua – if he is in fact the Zodiac as well as the Monster of Florence – why did he suddenly stop killing in 1985? 

The same question goes for Antonio Vinci: if he is the Monster, why did he stop? The murders stopped after he divorced his wife, could it be that being single again, he no longer felt inadequate, angered that he could not procreate? 

Currently there is no active investigation into the true identity of the Monster of Florence, but public interest is still alive and well. In 2013 The First National Convention on the Monster of Florence was held in Florence. Investigators, witnesses and other people involved in the case came together and discussed the case, still trying to figure out if the right men were convicted or not.

If you’d like to read more about this case, have a look at the resources used for this episode in the show notes. 

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