The 2007 Garlasco murder case took a new twist on Friday. Former Pavia prosecutor Mario Venditti is under investigation by Brescia prosecutors for allegedly taking a bribe to clear a suspect.
Sources said Venditti is accused of protecting Andrea Sempio, 37, a friend of victim Chiara Poggi’s brother. Police searched Venditti’s homes in Pavia, Genoa, and Campione d’Italia. The homes of two suspended law enforcement officers were also searched.
Venditti twice dropped probes into Sempio. The homes of Sempio’s parents and relatives were searched too.
Poggi’s former boyfriend, Alberto Stasi, 42, is serving a 16-year sentence for her murder. He has always claimed innocence.
Sempio came under investigation earlier this year after new DNA evidence emerged.
Brescia prosecutors said there were “anomalies” in a 2017 probe into Sempio. They alleged “opaque contacts” between Venditti’s office and Sempio’s family. They also noted his interrogation was unusually brief.
Stasi, a former Bocconi student, was twice acquitted before Italy’s supreme court ordered a retrial. Milan’s appeals court convicted him in 2014. The Cassation Court upheld the ruling in 2015.
Also read: Garlasco case: Fingerprint 33 excluded from investigation
