“We think about Stefano every single day. We miss him dearly. It’s an honor to wear the uniform in his memory.” After her assassination, her sister, Marzia, decided to carry on Stefano’s dream by joining the police herself. She and she were also present in the headquarters of the Subsection of the Modena Nord Traffic Police, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the death of assistant Biondi, hit by the car of two fleeing drug dealers. The civil and military authorities were present at the ceremony; the commissioner Donatella Dosi and several managers, together with many and moved colleagues of Stefano and, indeed, his sister Marzia Biondi, now assistant of the state police at the Caps in Cesena. “It was a beautiful demonstration, very heartfelt and moving – she underlined –. I joined the police twelve years ago: a choice made right after the death of Stefano who loved his job very much. The memory is ever more alive, because Stefano is constantly in our thoughts – underlines Marzia –. We often talk about him, in fact, every day we never fail to remember him. He was a volcano and everyone in our village remembers him.” Stefano was 28 years old: he was born and raised in Montaletto, Cervia. “When he came home from Modena, on days off – explains his moved sister – he would get on his bicycle and go to say hello to all his friends. My brother had a wonderful character, he got along with everyone. He was a volcano inside and away from home and we miss him greatly. April 20th is also my birthday: that very morning 20 years ago he wished me a happy birthday. It was the last time we spoke. In the evening – he still remembers Marzia – our colleagues arrived to give us the sad news of what had happened.” The criminals were arrested after the terrible collision: the driver of the Porsche who hit and killed the officer, Fabio Montagnino, was sentenced to life imprisonment. Fourteen years of imprisonment, however, for the accomplice Michele D’Ambrosio, who returned to prison again in 2020 after being accused of being a member of a gang of robbers. “At least Montagnino is inside – Stefano’s sister comments again –. No one will ever give Stefano back to us but we have had a minimum of justice, we can say that. The girl who overwhelmed and killed her Carabinieri colleagues in Salerno, however, is already in his house. Everyone was there at the commemoration in the barracks: colleagues from Rome, officials, I never imagined finding them all there and it was a wonderful surprise. Everyone loved him.”
Valentina Reggiani
