On May 29th, at 3.30 in the morning, the life of Giada Zanola, a young 33-year-old mother, ended in a tragic and violent way. The woman, originally from Brescia but resident in Padua, she was found lifeless under an A4 motorway overpass. His partner, Alberto Favero, a truck driver from Vigonza, he was immediately suspected of having thrown her into the void, simulating a suicide. However, the investigations soon revealed a much more complex and disturbing reality.
The toxicological tests carried out on Giada’s body brought to light a crucial detail: the presence of benzodiazepines, a class of psychotropic drugs with sedative, hypnotic and anxiolytic properties. Among the most common drugs containing these substances are Xanax and Lexotan. The medical examiner Claudio Terranova, appointed by the public prosecutor Giorgio Falcone, identified benzodiazepines in some tissue samples taken from the organs during the autopsy.
The discovery of benzodiazepines in Giada’s body raised crucial questions: were present in quantities compatible with therapeutic use or Giada was stunned by his alleged killer? No doctor had prescribed medicines containing benzodiazepines to Giada, which makes their presence in his system even more suspicious. A friend of the victim had already instilled doubt in the flying squad officers, saying that Giada feared being drugged by her partner.
According to investigators, Alberto Favero allegedly took Giada Zanola’s life in a moment of desperation and anger. The couple was going through a period of strong tension, and Giada had expressed her intention to leave her partner. On the night of May 29th, Favero allegedly loaded Giada into the car, a Ford C-Max, and he would have taken her to that bridge a kilometer away from their home to throw her into the void. His version of events, according to which Giada would have walked away towards the overpass and he would have followed her in the car, now appears as a clumsy attempt to cover the truth.
The investigations, inspections and seizures carried out by the police and the Paduan prosecutor’s office since 30 May have transformed the initial doubts into well-founded suspicions. The presence of sedatives in Giada’s body could indicate premeditated poisoning on Favero’s part, making the evidentiary picture very difficult for him. If investigations prove that Giada was stunned with benzodiazepines before being thrown from the overpass, Favero could be accused of premeditated murder.
Giada’s friends described Favero as a man incapable of accepting the end of their relationship. The tensions between the two were evident, and Giada had confided to a friend that she feared for her safety. Favero’s statements to the investigators, in which he described an argument that culminated in a desperate gesture, now seem like just a bunch of lies in light of the new evidence.
