Pavia prosecutors seek trial for Andrea Sempio as Stasi's revision nears

The trial request against Sempio

Pavia prosecutors filed a request on 3 November 2026 for Andrea Sempio, 38, to stand trial for the murder of Chiara Poggi, 26, in Garlasco on 13 August 2007. The charge alleges the killing was committed with cruelty, citing the number and extent of the wounds, including at least 12 lesions to the skull and face, and with abject motives tied to hatred after she rejected his sexual advances. The charge sheet mirrors the closing of the investigation. Investigators rely partly on a handprint, labelled impronta 33, found on the cellar staircase of the villa on via Pascoli, which they attribute to the defendant while the defence says it cannot be attributed to him. A judge may order an expert examination of that print, and male DNA found under the victim's nails remains central to the evidence.

The judge and the case file

The file was handed on 4 November to Luigi Riganti, the judge for the preliminary hearing who will decide whether Sempio goes to trial, according to Adnkronos, which cites La Provincia Pavese. Riganti, 64, was born in Pavia and worked as a judge in Enna, Vercelli and San Benedetto del Tronto before joining the Pavia court in 2010. He coordinated the criminal section there and later moved to the investigating judges' section. In February 2026 he sentenced Massimo Adriatici, a former League assessore in Voghera, to 12 years for the voluntary homicide of Younes El Boussettaoui. Adnkronos also reports that Riganti will weigh whether to order further investigations into the death of Andrea Rocchelli, the Pavia photojournalist killed in Ukraine.

Stasi's revision request

Alberto Stasi is serving a final sentence of 16 years for the Garlasco murder, and his lawyers are preparing a request to revise that conviction. Antonio De Rensis, who works on the case with Giada Bocellari, told Rete Quattro that the filing could come between 10 and 20 November, while declining to predict how long the review would take. He said the revision filing is independent of the request for Sempio to stand trial. On Canale 5's Mattino Cinque on 4 November, De Rensis said he expects something that will cause a stir, because the revision aims to dismantle the accusation that led Stasi to prison. Asked about the revision on that programme, he answered:

Regarding the review, we are in the last fifty metres.

Defence arguments and the Constitutional Court

Sempio's lawyers, Angela Taccia and Liborio Cataliotti, are studying their first moves ahead of a preliminary hearing that will most likely begin only in 2027. Their central procedural step will be a request to refer a constitutional question to the Consulta, arguing that it is an anomaly to try Sempio while Stasi, with a final conviction, awaits review for the same crime. Speaking on Rai 1's Cinque Minuti, Taccia warned that the two cases moving forward in parallel could produce conflicting rulings. She said the defence will present this as its first objection at the hearing. The Poggi family will not be a civil party in the Sempio trial, its lawyers confirmed to Fanpage, although Marco Poggi has told Quarto Grado that the family remains convinced of Stasi's guilt.

Another legal monster could be created, a big problem of conflicting rulings.

Other inquiries in Pavia

Pavia prosecutors are also reconstructing omissions and errors by the Ris, the Carabinieri forensic unit, from nearly two decades ago, which according to ANSA may have damaged Stasi. The list includes two negative DNA results on the pedals, dated 20 September 2007, four days before Stasi's detention, which were never entered into the case file. According to ANSA, a note in the original Ris file suggests that captain Alberto Marino concealed a negative blood test on that genetic profile. Investigators are also examining a suspected swap between DNA samples taken from a breakfast spoon and from the pedals. A separate line concerns a psychological assessment of Sempio that was not authorised by Vigevano prosecutor Rosa Muscio, and the new file weighs hypotheses of cover-up and falsification, including over recent statements by former investigators.

What comes next

According to ANSA, if Stasi's revision request is lodged in mid-November, the Brescia Court of Appeal could be asked to rule on its admissibility within three or four months, so a first verdict could come in early 2027. Brescia's prosecutor general, Guido Rispoli, who arrived in 2020, has been named by the CSM as prosecutor of Verona and is expected to leave Brescia early in 2027, probably after the January judicial-year opening. Domenico Chiaro, currently the advocate general, is expected to act as acting prosecutor general until a new appointment, so the Stasi file could land on his desk. The Sempio preliminary hearing is likely to start only in 2027.