A court in Parma has convicted Chiara Petrolini of the premeditated murder of two babies she secretly delivered and buried on the family property.
A 22-year-old woman from the province of Parma has been sentenced to 24 years and three months in prison for the murder of two newborn babies whose bodies she concealed in her garden. The Parma Court of Assizes reached its decision after just over three hours of deliberation, presided over by Judge Alessandro Conti.
Chiara Petrolini, from the small town of Traversetolo, was convicted of the premeditated murders of two infants born on 12 May 2023 and 7 August 2024 respectively. She buried both in the garden of her family home. She was acquitted, however, of the murder of her firstborn child, an earlier death for which she had also been charged. The court also reclassified one of the two charges of corpse suppression, that relating to the second baby, to the lesser charge of concealment of a body.
The prosecution had requested a sentence of 26 years. It had not sought a life term, citing Petrolini’s young age and what a psychiatric report described as immaturity as mitigating factors, albeit equivalent in weight to the aggravating circumstances.
How the Case Came to Light
The first of the two infants was discovered by chance by the family dog, which dug up the remains on 9 August 2024. Petrolini had given birth just two days earlier and, within hours, had flown to New York with her family. A month later, carabinieri discovered the remains of the second baby nearby — the child born in 2023.
The two newborns, named Domenico Matteo and Angelo Federico, died shortly after birth, at the end of pregnancies of which no one had been aware. The case drew widespread attention not only for its gravity but for the manner in which Petrolini had concealed her condition from everyone around her. That included her own parents and her boyfriend, Samuele Granelli, who was the father of both children.
In the Courtroom
Petrolini sat impassively as the sentence was read out, then left the courtroom escorted by carabinieri.
Granelli, who was present throughout as a civil party, left the room immediately after the verdict. His lawyer, Monica Moschioni, said: “Samuel, in all of this, wanted to be recognised in his right as a father, in his right to be present in the lives of these children. No sentence, no punishment, will give that back to him.”
During earlier proceedings, Petrolini had addressed the court directly. “I’ve also been described as a murderer, as a mother who kills her children, but that’s not who I am. I never wanted to harm my children,” she told the court. Her defence team had requested full acquittal on the basis that she had been incapable of understanding her own actions at the time.
That argument was rejected. A court-appointed psychiatric assessment concluded in January that Petrolini had been capable of understanding and acting upon her decisions when the crimes were committed. They found no pathology that would have diminished her responsibility. She was nonetheless described as an “immature and fragile” individual.
The Prosecution’s Case
In their closing submissions, prosecutors had emphasised what they called “the intrinsic gravity of the crime,” the “absolute defencelessness” of the murdered infants, and the fact that the second killing had been, in their words, a deliberate repetition of the first. They also cited Petrolini’s conduct in the aftermath of both births as evidence of her awareness and composure.
Parma’s chief prosecutor, Alfonso D’Avino, struck a sombre note after sentencing: “This is a very sad affair. We have two dead children: a family tragedy that has few parallels in ordinary life.”
Alongside the custodial term, the court ordered Petrolini to be permanently barred from public office and placed under legal interdiction for the duration of her sentence. Upon release, she will be subject to five years of supervised liberty.
Provisional civil damages were also awarded: €100,000 to Granelli, €30,000 to his father, and €15,000 to his mother, pending full quantification in civil proceedings.
Petrolini remains under house arrest with an electronic tag pending any appeals.
Sources: ANSA, Sky TG24, Il Fatto Quotidiano, La Presse, L’Unione Sarda (24 April 2026)
