The alleged murderer is Umberto Pietrolungo, 58 years old, considered affiliated with the ‘Ndrangheta Muto gang
Of Laura Pirone,
June 11, 2024
A mystery that lasted 33 years. He was arrested by agents of the Vicenza flying squad killer of Pierangelo Fioretto and his wife Mafalda Begnozzikilled on the evening of 25 February 1991, in the courtyard of their home in Contra’ Torretti, in Vicenza. The alleged killer is Umberto Pietrolungo58 years old, currently in prison in Cosenza where he was notified of the order from the Vicenza court.
Pietrolungo is considered affiliated with the ‘Ndrangheta Muto gang, operating in Cetraro, in the province of Cosenza. The turning point came thanks to National DNA database, through the comparison of biological findings taken from the finds of the time: the guns, a pair of gloves, the clothes worn by the victims. Angelo Fioretto, 59 years old, and his wife, Mafalda Bengozzi, 52 years old, had been shot dead in the courtyard of their home.
The ambush on Pierangelo Fioretto’s return home
Fioretto, who was a lawyer, was returning home from his office and found two people waiting for him who killed him with four gunshots, the last of which was point-blank. His wife, Mafalda Begnozzi, went down to help him and was also killed. The staff of the Vicenza Flying Squad found the bodies of the two spouses immersed in a pool of blood, killed with numerous shots. Fioretto had been hit in the back of the head, his wife also in the head. The medical examiner ascertained that those were “final shots”, fired while the couple were already on the ground, to ensure their death. 17 7.65 caliber cartridge cases, 2 unexploded bullets of the same caliber and various pieces of lead were found on the ground.
In the following days, officers found two weapons, the ‘Nuova Molgora’, modified toy guns: one was found at the exit of Contrà Santa Lucia, near Piazza XX Settembre, the other along the bank of the Bacchiglione river. The two weapons, including the silencers with which they were equipped, were analyzed for traces of DNA: on the silencer of the gun found on Bacchiglione there were three fragments of a thumbprint. The finds were sent to the Central Anti-Crime Police Directorate in Rome, but were considered ‘not useful’ for comparison “due to their small size”. A fact that pushed the Prosecutor’s Office to request the dismissal, which was accepted on 3 December 1996.
Among the finds also gloves, found not far from the crime scene. The Vicenza prosecutor’s office reopened the case in 2012 thanks also to the team created by the Ministry of the Interior for unsolved crimes and to the use of new technologies capable of isolating and examining traces of DNA. In February 2023, the police had found a “first-level positive match” in the DNA bank. It is during the continuation of the investigations that the detectives managed to trace Pietrolungo, who is currently awaiting his interrogation in prison. This way the motive can be clarified.
