Killer Stories with Harvey Guillén - The Monster of Florence Pt. 2

Episode Date: July 3, 2023

By 1985, the Monster of Florence had claimed 16 lives—but authorities were no closer to catching the killer than when they'd started their investigation, and the trail was getting colder every day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Due to the graphic nature of this killer's crimes, listener discretion is advised. This episode includes discussions of murder, rape, assault, suicide, and self-harm that some people may find offensive. We advise extreme caution for children under 13. In the spring of 2001, Italian journalist Mario Spezzi hesitated. His finger hovering over the buzzer outside an apartment building. He and Douglas Preston, a crime author from America, had traveled to the building to interview the man they believed to be the serial killer known as, the Monster of Florence. But now that they were there, it seemed both men were nervous,

and they had good reason. They hadn't exactly been invited over, and Mario was a recognizable figure in Italy, well remembered for his tenacious reporting during the monster's murder spree in the 1970s and 80s. Still, they gathered their wits and pressed the buzzer. No turning back Now. When they gave their names, their suspect happily invited them in, and with a sharp buzz, they entered the building. When they arrived at the apartment door, they paused again. Both men were sure they were about to come face to face with a vicious serial killer, and there was no telling how this meeting would go. With a final deep breath, Mario raised his hand and knocked.

Hi, I'm Greg Poulson. This is Serial Killers, a Spotify original from Parcast. Every episode, we dive into the minds and madness of serial killers. Today, we're concluding our look at the Monster of Florence, one of the deadliest serial killers in Italian history. I'm here with my co-host, Vanessa Richardson. Hi, everyone. You can find episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast

for free on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. Last time, we covered the Monsters' Murder We detailed how we snuck up on couples making love in their cars, shot them with a barata handgun, then mutilated the women with what was assumed to be a scuba knife. Today, we'll dive deeper into the investigation and examine how Florentine authorities mishandled the case. We'll also consider the research of reporter Mario Spezzi and who he believed the monster really was. We've got all that and more coming up. Stay with us. This episode is brought to you by Shopify.

Bonnie and Clyde, the lonely hearts killers, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. These are infamous criminal duels. But you don't need to break any loss to find your perfect business partner because you have Shopify. It's the commerce platform that can help you with literally everything, website design, marketing, shipping, and more. So start your business today with the best partner, Shopify, and get that.

Sign up for your website. $1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash killers. That's Shopify.com slash killers. This episode is brought to you by ZipRecruiter. Whether you're hiring for a role or searching for a killer, the hunt can be exhausting. When detectives looked and searched to find any kind of evidence to find the person they were looking for, like Jack the Ripper, the Golden State Killer, the unit bomber, it's tedious work to find what you're looking for. So if you're hiring, I've got news for you. You can skip the lengthy investigation and the tiresome process of sorting through hundreds of resumes. Just use ZipRecruiter. Try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash killers. Because not only

does ZipRecruiter have the technology to match you with potential candidates quickly, it also just added a new feature that pushes candidates who are qualified and interested in your role to the top of the list. They can even tell you why they're interested, making it easier for for you to get a sense of who they are. Cut through the standard and get to the standouts with ZipRecruiter. Four out of five employers who post on ZipRecruiter get a quality candidate within the first day. And now you can try it for free at ZipRecruiter.com slash killers. That's ziprecruiter.com slash killers.

Meet your match on ZipRecruiter. This episode is brought to you by Prime. Obsession is in session. And this summer, Prime Originals have everything you want. Steamy romances, irresistible love stories, and the book-to-screen favorites you've already read twice. Off-campus, L, every year after, The Love Hypothesis, Sterling Point, and more. Slow burns, second chances, chemistry you can feel through the screen. Your next obsession is waiting.

Watch only on Prime. In a perfect world, the criminal justice system would be dedicated to, to uncovering the truth. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. Sometimes the search for answers is overtaken by a quest for heroics, a desire to be seen as the one who saved the day. When that happens, when ego trumps fact,

mistakes are made. The wrong people are accused, are arrested, are locked away, and sometimes that allows a monster to remain in the shadows, undiscovered and biting their time. It happened in Italy. as authorities made a mess of their search for the monster of Florence, allowing him to strike again and again.

In the fall of 1985, the monster murdered 36-year-old Nadine Mario and her 25-year-old boyfriend, Jean-Michel Kravishvili. He watched as the couple made love in their tent in the Scopetti clearing, a field about nine miles south of Florence. Then he shot both of them dead, removed Nadine's vagina and left breast with a knife. knife and left her inside the tent.

The killer took the mutilated body parts with him as gruesome souvenirs, leaving no other evidence behind. However, he didn't hold onto his trophies for very long. On September 10, 1985, Florence prosecutor Sylvia Delamonica and a strange piece of mail sitting on her desk. The envelope was addressed to her with letters that had been cut from a magazine. When she opened the package, she let out a blood-curdling scream. The monster had sent her a piece of Nadine's breast,

wrapped carefully in tissue paper. Sylvia was terrified. She was the only woman working on the decade-long case, and it appeared that the sadistic killer knew it. As such, Sylvia worried that she was being targeted because of her gender, and not without reason. Vanessa's going to take over on the psychology here and throughout the episode. Please note, Vanessa is not a licensed psychologist or a psychiatrist, but she has done a lot of research for this show.

Thanks, Greg. In their book, Sex Murder and Sex Aggression, Forensic psychologist Louis Slessinger and psychiatrist Eugene Revich assert that many sexual homicides committed by men are, in fact, displaced matricides. According to Slesinger and Revich, these killers harbor a deep hatred of women because they're unable to recognize, or express their feelings of rage and resentment toward their mothers. This kind of maternal anger often develops when the killer is young. As he matures into adulthood, he's unable to psychologically differentiate the women he meets from the mother he hates. Schlesinger and Revich found that many factors within the mother-son-son relationship can cause this type of resentment.

Some examples include a mother who is too aggressive or controlling, or if she sexualizes her son in any way. It's also important to note that the father is not exempt from blame in these situations. When the mother's behavior is coupled with the emotional and or physical absence of the father, these problems are only exacerbated. While we can only speculate on the monster's upbringing, his sadistic behavior towards women suggests he may have harbored an unhealthy view of all women. Whether his mother played a part in that development remains a mystery. This theory gives us potential insight into why the monster singled out prosecutor Sylvia Delamonica for this special delivery.

And whatever his intentions, the results of his twisted game were swift. Sylvia worried that the disturbing gift signaled that she was the monster's next target. Terrified, she resigned from the case. Her resignation and the ghastly reason behind it caused the Florentine public to lose even more confidence in their city's law enforcement. By now, the investment, the investment. The investigation into the monster was the longest and most expensive criminal case in Italian history, and it was clear that the police weren't even close to making an arrest.

The monster had not only eluded authorities for the past 10 years, but he'd also changed the social landscape of Florence. Prior to the murders, young couples parked along secluded hillsides for a late-night rendezvous. But now, the national pastime of park and play was associated with murder. Even worse, the knowledge that there was a serial killer in their midst created a simmering, insidious hysteria. Family turned against family, neighbor against neighbor. The only person who remained unfazed by the monster's ghastly actions was Italy's legendary reporter, 40-year-old Mario Spezzi.

He had covered the murders since 1981, and the Florentine public knew him as the monstrologer. on his research, Mario had a shrewd idea about what to look for when hunting the monster. For starters, the killer was smart enough to evade capture for years, so he knew he was looking for someone intelligent, or at least very cunning. Crucially, Mario believed that the monster also had to have a connection to the gun that Stefano Mele used to kill his wife and her lover in 1968. Stefano's 22-caliber Beretta handgun had been used in every one of the monster's murders. frustratingly, the gun hadn't yet turned up.

Unfortunately, the Florentine police didn't seem to share Mario's ideas about the case. Instead of searching for individuals with ties to the gun, authorities arrested men with a prior history of sexual deviance and violent crimes. Close to 100,000 men were investigated and several falsely convicted. As a result of the manhunt, countless innocent lives were ruined. In one extreme case, a doctor named Francesco Narducci was so upset by the false accusation that he reportedly took his own life. But as the list of wrongful arrests spiraled out of control, the public began to suspect that

the authorities weren't doing their due diligence. To make matters worse, two officials working the case seemed to have contradictory ideas about how best to unmask the killer. After taking over from Sylvia de la Monica, prosecutor Piero Luigi Vingham. Vena wanted to start from scratch. He wasn't happy with the way things had progressed thus far, but examining magistrate Mario Rottella was certain they were on the right track. Though he did suspect that they might have simply made a wrong turn somewhere.

So as Vinya sought out new suspects, Rotella re-examined the information they already had. Crucially, Rotella acknowledged that tracking the whereabouts of the Beretta handgun was key to solving the case. Here's where things get somewhat murky, so stay with us. While the monster's crime started in 1974, the first recorded use of the Beretta was during the 1968 murder of Cephano Mele's wife. Stefano confessed to the killing,

but in doing so, he also implied that he wasn't alone that night. If someone else was there, it seems logical that they held on to the murder weapon. Years later, when evidence showed that Stefano's gun was used in the monster's murders. Investigators looked to Stefano's case for clues. They zeroed in on two possible accomplices, brothers Francesco and Salvatore Vinci. They believed that one of them took the gun home that night and started using it as the monster. Out of the two brothers, Francesco was the more obvious culprit. He'd been spotted in the vicinity of many of the crimes, and he also had an existing criminal record. So in 1982, Francesco was arrested under suspicion of

being the monster. However, when the monster struck again in 1983, it was clear that the authorities had locked up the wrong man. Sir Francesco was released and the police went back to the drawing board. In 1985, when Rotella reviewed the case in a new light, he decided that the authorities should have arrested Salvatore Vinci instead. It seems they had initially overlooked Salvatore because he didn't share the same rap sheet as his brother.

In fact, Salvatore didn't have a criminal record at all. The father and widower was an introvert and an intellectual who loved engaging in spirited debates with friends. Following his wife's death by suicide in 1961, he'd raised their son Antonio all by himself. But Salvatore was no angel. It was common knowledge around the town that both Salvatore and Francesco had been sleeping with Stefan O'Mele's wife prior to. to her murder. And as Judge Rotella looked deeper into Salvatore's past, he uncovered an even

more disturbing rumor about Salvatore's late wife. The story Rotella uncovered went as follows. In the late 1950s, young Salvatore began dating a girl named Barbarina. Unbeknownst to him, Barbarina was also seeing a man named Antonio at the same time, when Salvatore found out he felt betrayed, and he was furious. In vengeance, he allegedly ambushed Barbarina and raped her. When she discovered she was pregnant as a result of the attack, she and Salvatore married so that their child wasn't born out of wedlock. In February 1960, 18-year-old Barbarina gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

The story goes that as a slight to her new husband, she insisted they named their son Antonio after her one true love. Meanwhile, Barbarina carried on an illicit affair with her lover until November of that year when they were discovered sneaking around the Sardinian countryside. A friend spotted the couple, took pictures, and showed them to Salvatore, who was livid. News of the affair was likely a devastating blow to Salvatore's ego, but one he wouldn't be forced to endure for long. Just two months later, in January of 1961, Salvatore arrived home late on the night of January 14, 1961, to find baby Antonio asleep in his crib. Strangely, the crib was in the living room instead of his parents' room.

Upon closer inspection, Salvatore discovered that the door to the bedroom was closed and the lights were on. Paranoid, he assumed that 19-year-old Barbarina was inside. entertaining her lover. He left the house in an angry rush to round up some friends, but when they returned and pushed open the bedroom door, they discovered Barbarina all alone, seemingly fast asleep. Salvatore's friends shrugged and began to leave. But then, Salvatore screamed that he could smell gas in the air.

No one else could smell it, but his friends noticed a propane tank was next to the bed. The valve was open and a tube was lying on the pillow. That was when they noticed that Barbarina wasn't sleeping at all. She was dead. When the authorities arrived, Salvatore's friends corroborated his story and assured authorities that he had been with them for most of the night. They also revealed that Barbarina had been distressed following the discovery of her affair.

To the authorities, suicide seemed like a likely conclusion, despite a number of suspicious scratches and bruises on Barbarina's face. It's possible that suicide was the easiest option to deal with, so that's what was recorded. Even if there were lingering questions, authorities never had the opportunity to follow up. Shortly after his wife's death, Salvatore and Baby Antonio left Sardinia and moved to Florence. He found a job as a bricklayer and found lodging in Stefano Melae's home. After settling into his new community, Salvatore seemed like an upstanding citizen. But 24 years later, Magistrate Rotella closed in on Salvatore as a possible suspect in the Monster of Florence case.

Looking into Salvatore's past, he re-examined Barbarina's death and found himself leaning towards a different version of events. Rotella read in the case files that the propane tank Barbarina supposedly used to kill herself had been empty earlier that night. Barbarina had visited a neighbors to warm up some milk for her baby because she had no gas left at home. The tank in question couldn't be refilled, only replaced, so it seems highly unlikely that Barbarina could possibly abuse the tank to kill herself. There was also the matter of all the bruises and scratches on Barbarina's face and neck. It seems that in 1961, the police ignored or overlooked these marks, even though they indicated that Barbarina may have been suffocated.

to death. But now, on the hunt for a vicious killer, Rotella looked at the evidence with a more critical eye. He came to the conclusion that there was more to Salvatore Vinci than police first thought. Coming up, Salvatore Vinci's murky past comes to light. Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound terseptide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity, or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15 milligram injection. Zepound contains terseptide and should not be

used with other terseptide-containing products or any GLP1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pen, or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it, or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop, Zepbound, and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills.

Taking Zepbound with a sulfonel urea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-99 or visit Zepbounds.lily.com. Transport your senses with Sol de Janeiro's limited edition perfume mist collection. At Sephora, spritz on lush notes of rainforest orchid and crisp sea breeze with have freshened. Paraiso. Embrace a floral and fruity scent inspired by Rio's nude beach with cheeky bikini or capture sun-kissed bliss with limonada gelada, where zesty Brazilian lemonade accord meets

coconut milk and golden brown sugar. Don't miss Sol de Janeiro's limited edition perfume mist collection only at Sephora. Now back to the story. In late 1985, examining magistrate Mario Rotella had a sneaking suspicion he knew who the monster of Florence was. His investigation into Salvatore Vinci unearthed a slew of disturbing rumors, including that Salvatore had possibly murdered his wife. If that wasn't bad enough, Rotella was particularly upset by Salvatore's behavior in the years since. He was already aware that Salvatore had had an affair with the wife of his landlord, Stephan O'Mele, but that wasn't all. Salvatore was also sleeping with other women and men throughout the town, often at the same time.

Salvatore wasn't just salacious, he was insatiable. It's believed he often engaged in orgies, forcing whoever he was dating at the time to get involved. According to one ex-lover, he would yank her by the hair or slap her face if she didn't join in. Some people who attended these sex parties remarked that Salvatore's sexual interests knew no bounds. He liked to get rough and incorporate props into his sex play. Some of these objects, like vibrators made sense. But others like zucchini's and eggplants seemed somewhat more outlandish. What made this interest more sinister was that many of Salvatore's partners were reluctant to use these props, but he reportedly insisted. After hearing about his sexual proclivities,

Rotella was more certain that ever that Salvatore Vinci was the monster of Florence. To the investigator, Salvatore was a sexual deviant who might have killed his own wife. What's more, Salvatore also had the opportunity to take the Beretta gun from his landlord, Stephano Mele. With the pieces all coming together, it was time for Rotella to take action. On June 11, 1986, Rotella had Salvatore Vinci arrested for murder, but he wasn't charged for the monster's crimes. Instead, he was tried for killing his wife, Barbarina, in 1961.

Rotella figured that the murder of Barbarina was a simpler case, one that would be easier to prove. If Salvatore was convicted of one murder, Rotella hoped that convicting him for the monster's crimes would be a cakewalk. But things didn't quite go according to plan. When his trial began on April 12, 1988, Salvatore was painstakingly careful on the stand. He replied to each question with thoughtful consideration. However, his son Antonio behaved. quite differently. Now in his late 20s, he was called to testify against his father, and it was clear that the pair did not have a good relationship. According to witnesses,

hostile energy rolled off Antonio in waves during his testimony. From behind black sunglasses, he refused to take off. He glared at his father, as if he had a vendetta against Salvatore. In response, Salvatore stared right back, his mouth a grim line. The text, The tension between the two men was apparent to everyone in the courtroom, including 42-year-old journalist Mario Spezzi. Mario was covering the case for La Nacione newspaper. After the trial, Antonio told the legendary reporter that if there weren't an abundance of police officers in the room with them,

he would have strangled his father right then and there. But Salvatore was spared his son's wrath, as well as the justice system's punishment. Ultimately, Salvatore was found innocent of his wife's murder. The crime had simply happened too long ago for a sufficient case to be made against him. Witnesses had since passed away and evidence had been destroyed. Understandably, Salvatore was eager to put the case behind him. Following the trial, he told friends he was going to visit family on the island of Sardinia.

But as far as we can tell, he never arrived. To this day, no one knows where Salvatore Vinci is, or whether or not he's all alive. Unfortunately, examining Magistrate Rotella couldn't as easily escape the shame of his defeat. His plan to unmask his pick for the monster of Florence had backfired. Following the trial, he withdrew from the investigation and left Florence for good. Like so many before him, he had failed. But though the search for answers had defeated yet another investigator, Prosecutor Piero Luigi Venae remained on the case. And it was a judge. In his quest, he opted to ignore the murder weapon and simply look for suspects with a history of sexual crimes.

It was a tactic that police had tried in 1974. With Rotella gone, it seemed that investigators weren't interested in following the physical evidence to the killer. That search was taking too long and led to frustrating dead ends, both of which were bad for the police force's reputation in Florence. And it was a reputation in free fall. Many premature arrests and some overturned convictions in the case resulted in a public with little trust in their police. They'd locked up too many innocent men while the real killer remained free. It was a terrifying thought. Fortunately, the monster's murderous urges seemed to have subsided.

He hadn't claimed any victims since 1985, and as the 80s drew to a close, the police seemed hesitant to make any more unwarranted arrests. So, with little to report, the papers moved on, and people stopped talking about the monster. But despite the waning public interest, police continued to search for the monster. In 1989, Florentine authorities reached out to the FBI for help. Based on their extensive research on serial killers, Quantico's Behavioral Science Unit drew up a thorough profile on the monster and sent it to Italy. However, the profile they came up with didn't match what local

investigators had in mind for the killer, so it seems it was largely ignored for years. That is, until one tenacious journalist got a hold of the report. In the early 1990s, Mario Spezzi was working as a freelance journalist, but still spent much of his time looking into his favorite story, the monster of Florence. It was during this continued search for answers that Mario found out about the discarded FBI profile. One of his contacts slipped him a copy of the report, allowing Marry, a chance to read about the monster through the eyes of the FBI. Crucially, the report classified the monster of Florence as a lust murderer.

According to Special Agents Robert Hazelwood and John Douglas, lust murderers are distinguished from other sadistic killers by their use of genital and sexual mutilation during their crimes. They also categorized lust killers into two personality types, disorganized asocial and organized non-social. Unfortunately, the report didn't indicate which of these two categories the monster might fall into. However, because his victims were left in or near where they were killed, it seems he better fits the disorganized descriptor. Disorganized asocial murderers tend to feel rejected by other people and will usually keep them at bay.

Because of this, they often have difficulty maintaining any kind of relationship and are typically described as loaners by the future. owners by the few people who know them. Interestingly, a disorganized asocial killer will usually murder close to where they live because it makes them feel safe. So although the monster had taken risks, like mailing body parts to a prosecutor, it seems he was still inclined to stay within his comfort zone.

Moreover, the FBI profile said that the monster likely killed in locations that he knew well, places where he was sure people engaged in some form sexual activity. Once there, he would watch the couple as they made love, then strike, using surprise and speed to his advantage. The FBI profilers believed that the monster's male victims were nothing more than obstacles to be removed, which is why he always killed them first. Then he got down to the real reason he was there, the mutilation of the women. The horrific removal of vaginas and breasts might have represented a need to possesses.

the women the monster attacked. That's also why he typically moved the bodies away from where their lovers lay. He wanted complete control over the ritual he was performing. The FBI profile was thorough and intriguing. Infuriatingly, it seemed to have gone to waste. But now that Mario Spezzi had a copy, he wanted to use it to track the monster down once and for all. Coming up, Mario meets the man he believes to be the monster of the monster of of Florence. Want to support your gut health? Take Activia's gut health challenge by enjoying two Activia yogurt today for two weeks and

see if you feel a difference. With billions of probiotics and 20 years of scientific expertise, Activia is one of the easiest and tastiest ways to start your gut health ritual. Try Activia today. Enjoying Activia twice a day for two weeks as part of a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle may help reduce the frequency of minor digestive discomfort, which includes gas, bloating, rumbling, and abdominal discomfort. Own it all.

Pay off your home, travel for life, drive a Ferrari. In celebration of the world premiere of the Monopoly Big Board Buckslot machine by Aristocrat Gaming, Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is giving one person a $1.6 million dream package. The biggest prize in Yamava's history. Club Serrano members can earn daily instant prizes and secure a spot in the finale May 29th.

Don't pass go and own it all. Only at Yamava, celebrating its 40th anniversary. You win? Details at yamava.com must be 21-20. Please gamble responsibly. Monopoly is a trademark of Hasbro. Hasbro is not a sponsor of this promotion. Now, back to the story.

In the early 1990s, reporter Mario Spezzi learned that the Florentine police had ordered an FBI profile on the monster of Florence. He also discovered that the authorities had hidden that report, because the suspect it described didn't match anyone they had arrested. Now Mario wondered what else the police had kept hidden from the public. He began to ask around, getting in touch with his old contacts from the police department. Eventually, he discovered the depth of the conflicts about the investigation, even among the investigators. After Salvatore Vinci was acquitted of murder in 1988, examining magistrate Mario Rotella was asked to resign from the case, and lead prosecutor Pierre Luigi Vina took over. However, some members of the police department disagreed with Vinyas approach to the case

and started a secret investigation of their own. Like Rotella, they wanted to track the wearer. of the Beretta gun used in all the monster's murders. Their search uncovered a document that potentially held the key to locating the missing murder weapon. It was a police report from May of 1974, documenting a break-in at the home of, none other than Salvatore Vinci. Curiously, Salvatore had stated that he didn't know what had been stolen. At first glance, the complaint was confusing. While Salvatore was adamant that someone had broken into his home, he had nothing to report missing.

Additionally, Salvatore was relatively poor. His ramshackle home was small, and he didn't seem to own anything of value. Still, he insisted that the police file a report of the break-in. He even went so far as to tell them who he thought the culprit was, saying that he wanted this person's name on the record. It was someone he knew, someone he was close with, someone who, under normal circumstances, should have been the last person

Salvatore wanted to throw to the wolves, his son, Antonio Vinci. As Mario brewed over this new information, he finally thought he'd found the missing piece of the puzzle. Maybe Salvatore did have something of value in his home after all, something he couldn't admit to authorities. Perhaps it was the 22-calibre baretic gun used in a double homicide years earlier.

And if Salvatore's accusation was correct, then his son should surely be a prime suspect in the monster of Florence case. Just four months after Salvatore reported the break-in, the monster struck for the first time, killing teenage lovers, Stefania Petini, and Pasquale, Gentle Corre. According to Mario's sources, Salvatore checked himself into the psychiatric ward at Santa Maria Nuova Hospital right around the same time. It's entirely possible that if Salvatore suspected his son of using the Beretta to carry out the brutal murders, that he felt an unbearable guilt. In their book, The Monster of Florence, Mario and crime author Douglas Preston theorized that Salvatore may have sought treatment to get himself through this revelation. Historically, relatives of serial killers have had varied responses to finding out their family members are murderers. According to Michael Price, a professor of evolutionary psychology, people have, quote, strong psychological and emotional incentives to defend and remain loyal to the family member, and to delude and self-deceive themselves about the reality of their relatives' guilt. But not everyone has this reaction. In order to protect their own evolutionary success, some family members may instinctively disassociate themselves from the killer to avoid being ostraccharacter.

It's entirely possible that if he suspected his son was the monster, Salvatore did a little of both. It's important to remind you that these theories remain just that. Theories. Still, if we follow the logic, some pieces of the puzzle seem to fall into place. Back in 1974, when he named his own son as a burglar, Salvatore was potentially protecting his own self-interest. Perhaps he did so in case the missing 22-caliber Beretta gun. was ever linked back to him. Unfortunately, by the time Mario believed he was on the trail of the missing gun in the late 1990s,

Salvatore was long gone, unseen since his acquittal in 1988. So there was no one Mario could turn to to verify his theory. And according to Mario, the police weren't willing to help chase down any of his leads, which only left one option. If he wanted to confirm that Antonio Vinci was in his case, indeed the monster of Florence. Mario was going to have to talk to the man himself. So on a brisk spring night in 2001,

55-year-old Mario and 44-year-old American crime writer Douglas Preston ventured just west of Florence to pay Antonio a visit. When the two writers appeared unannounced, Antonio immediately recognized Mario, and, interestingly, he seemed amused by the visit. He offered his guests some drinks. drinks, sat them down at his kitchen table, and asked what they needed. Mario said, truthfully, that he and Douglas were writing an article about the Monster of Florence

for the New Yorker, but he fudged a little, saying that the interview was completely routine, just a small part of a big series about the monster. They eased in with some casual conversation before Mario eventually started talking about the murders. When he asked Antonio about his relationship with his father, the young man, Then Antonio explained that he and his dad never really saw eye to eye. He said they had often gotten into physical fights, even when he was just a little boy. Antonio described one particular argument in detail and said, We had a fight and I pinned him, planting my scuba knife at his throat.

This was a juicy tidbit for the two writers to hear. The monster of Florence was known for using a notched knife. using a notched knife to mutilate his victims. And many forensic analysts had speculated that it was a scuba knife. But it's possible Antonio knew that. Mario had written all about the case in national newspapers, and his stories included theories about the weapon. Maybe he was toying with his guess.

Or perhaps he had inadvertently revealed a crucial connection between himself and the monster. Then again, maybe it meant nothing and was simply a coincidence. Mario pressed on with the interview, pointing out clue after clue that indicated Antonio might be the killer, but Antonio wasn't phased and reportedly shrugged them all off. When asked if he had stolen the barretta from his dad, Antonio shook his head no. He said, if I had taken it, I would have fired it into my father's forehead. When Mario mentioned that the murder stopped between 1975 and 1980, five years during which Antonio didn't live in Florence,

Antonio merely smiled. And when they asked him outright if he was the monster, they got an unequivocal no. So that was that. But when the men stood up to leave, Antonio leaned in and said to Mario, listen carefully. I don't play games.

No doubt the visit would have left both men rattled, but they were unshakable in their belief that they'd finally found the monster of Florence. His potential link to the Beretta handgun and familiarity with scuba knives seemed too strong to be pure coincidence. Additionally, the men noted Antonio's history of aggression towards his father and his frightening warning at the end of their interview, which seemed to line up with the FBI profile of the monster.

In their minds, the search was over. So during the summer of 2001, the two writers worked time. tirelessly on their story for the New Yorker. They felt sure that once their theory about Antonio was published, the Italian police would have no choice but to formally open an investigation. Unfortunately, Mario and Douglas' story was pulled before it could go to print.

A bigger event, the terror attacks of September 11th made headlines around the world, eclipsing all other news. No one in America wanted to read about the mystery of some unsolved Italian cold cases. And no one in Italy seemed to care about Mario's suspicions either. At least no one involved in the investigation. By that time, the prosecutor's office was fixated on their pursuit of another sensational lead,

one that involved a satanic cult. In response, Mario penned articles poking holes in the outlandish cult theory. And this, it seemed, was the final straw. The Florentine police had had enough of Mario's meddling. In 2004, they illegally invaded Marius' Mario's home, rifled through his belongings, and stole everything they could find on the monster. Fortunately, Mario's wife managed to hide a digital copy of all of his notes. It's because of her quick thinking that Mario was able to continue his research into Antonio.

But the police didn't leave it at that. In 2006, they accused Mario himself of being the monster of Florence and threw him in jail. But Mario was a beloved and respected journalist, so the case was a loved and respected journalist. so the case against him quickly fell apart. Thanks to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an organization dedicated to the preservation of the free press, Mario was released after 23 days. And despite his clashes with Florentine Police,

he was still determined to unmask the monster once and for all. So in 2008, he and Douglas published an entire book on the case, entitled The Monster of Florence. Unfortunately, the book didn't make the splash that they had hoped. By that stage, there were simply too many conspiracy theories about the monster, and a tale focused on unearthing concrete facts was no match for the more sensational stories out there. Maddeningly, there seems little hope of ever uncovering the truth now. It's been too long, and there were too many false accusations, arrests, and convictions.

Even if the monster is unmasked, it's possible no one will be. believe it. At this stage, they've heard it all before. We'd like to tell children the story of the boy who cried wolf. Playing practical jokes, a young boy cries out for help, claiming a wolf is nearby. When people come running and see that there is no wolf, he's warned that his credibility hangs in the balance. Eventually, after the boy repeats his game, a wolf does come. When the boy screams for help, No one believes him and he is devoured. It seems lucky then that in the years since his last attack,

the Monster of Florence has never taken advantage of the authorities' bungled attempts to appear as heroes. They cried Monster, but eventually people stopped listening. Thanks again for tuning it to serial killers. We'll be back soon with a new episode. For more information on the Monster of Florence, amongst the many sources we used, we found The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezzi extremely helpful to our research. You can find all episodes of serial killers and all other Spotify originals from Parcast for free on Spotify. We'll see you next time.

Have a killer week. Serial Killers is a Spotify original from Parcast. Executive producers include Max and Ron Cutler, sound designed by Michael Motion, with production assistants by Ron Shapiro, Carly Madden and Bruce Kitovi. This episode of serial killers was written by Ellie Reed, with writing assistance by Jane O. and Joel Callan, fact-checking by Haley Milliken, and research by Brian Petrus and Chelsea Wood. Serial killers stars Greg Paulson and Vanessa Richardson. Want to hear something spooky.

Some monster, it reminded me of Bigfoot. Monsters Among Us is a weekly podcast featuring true stories of the paranormal. One of the boys started to exhibit demonic possession. Stories straight from the witnesses' mouths themselves. Something very snake-like lifted its head out of the water. Hosted by me, your guide, Derek Hayes. Somehow I lost eight whole hours. Listen now on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.

A beloved 75-year-old man washing up getting ready for bed is brutally beaten and killed. Despite an exhaustive investigation, the killer avoids arrest and then strikes again. I'm Global News crime reporter Nancy Hicks. You might listen to a lot of true crime podcasts this year, but they're not crime beat. Search for and follow the award-winning podcast Crime Beat on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.