(ANSA) – CAGLIARI, MAY 13 – “We want justice for our sister, she did not commit suicide. The case must be reopened: we want the truth”. This is the appeal launched by Elisabetta, Anna and Gioele Murgia, sisters and brother of Manuela, a 16-year-old girl found dead on 5 February 1995 in the Tuvixeddu gorge, in Cagliari. A case archived at the time as suicide, but the family never believed it: for them Manuela was killed. One of the many unsolved cases or perhaps closed too soon and which the 16-year-old’s sisters and brother would now like to reopen, in light of new elements that would overturn the conclusions reached by the investigators. A death shrouded in mystery for 29 years: the investigations failed “to ascertain the circumstances and causes of Murgia’s death”, the magistrates wrote in the file, leaving several hypotheses open: “accidental event, malice by third parties or even negligent road collision with subsequent concealment of the body”. Elisabetta, Anna and Gioele ask that the case be reopened and new investigations be carried out, taking into account the new investigative techniques. To do this they turned to a pool of experts: it includes the criminologist Maria Marras, the Bachisio Mele law firm, the lawyer Giulia Lai, doctors, anatomopathologists, technical experts and forensic engineers. On February 5, 1995, Manuela left her home in the Is Mirrionis neighborhood, where she lives with her parents and three brothers, and left at midday without returning. Her body was found the next day in the Tuvixeddu gorge. There was immediate talk of suicide, but relatives and the prosecutor’s office didn’t believe it: the investigations continued for almost three years and were then closed, leaving many questions open. In 2012 the case was reopened for a few months thanks to the testimony of one of the sisters. At the end of 2023 the family came into possession of all the investigation papers and above all the results of the autopsy: many inconsistencies reported by the relatives. Appeals begin in the press, a Facebook page is also opened calling for ‘justice for Manuela’, and people also take to the streets with a torchlight procession in the streets of central Cagliari. Now the word to the experts. (HANDLE).
