Luca Esposito, 53, a sports journalist, was found dead among burnt brushwood on a farm road in Eboli. Investigators are treating the death as murder, with shell casings recovered at the scene and the motive still unclear.
Sports journalist Luca Esposito, 53, was found dead on a farm road in the municipality of Eboli, in the province of Salerno, among burnt brushwood.
Firefighters discovered the body while putting out a fire. He had been shot and then set alight. Initially, firefighters could not determine whether the body was that of a man or a woman, with no ID on the remains. A car was later found nearby, and the Salerno Prosecutor’s Office identified the owner as Luigi Esposito.
A murder investigation
Carabinieri also found shell casings among the undergrowth near the body, and are now treating the death as murder. No motive has been established. Investigators are looking into both Esposito’s private life and relationships, and his professional life, though the latter has raised some confusion.
While colleagues confirmed Esposito worked as a sports journalist, some also referred to a role he was said to hold at the Regional Environmental Protection Agency, ARPAC. The agency has since issued a statement denying any relationship with Esposito, leaving that detail unresolved.
Who was Luca Esposito?
Esposito was a freelance journalist who had never covered crime or legal affairs, the kind of beat that might typically raise suspicion of links to organised crime. He covered sport, following Salernitana and other Serie C clubs, working as a TV commentator, newspaper contributor and columnist. He turned 53 on 4th July.
Colleagues described him as outspoken and someone who firmly defended his opinions. He often clashed with fans during broadcasts, and would tell critics: “You know, I always say what I think.”
Pierluigi Melillo, director of OttoChannel, the television station where Esposito worked as a commentator, described him as a valuable collaborator who was inconvenient at times but never banal, and always courageous in defending his views on football. According to his Instagram bio, he was director of TuttoSalernitana.com, a commentator for OttoChannel, and a columnist for TuttoC.com, a Serie C news site on the TMW network, where he discussed sport and the transfer market with around 15,000 followers.
His last public photo was taken on 27th June in a town in Cilento. He had no wife or children.
Questions over his final movements
The location where his body was found has puzzled those who knew him. Esposito had no known ties to Eboli — he was originally from Nocera Inferiore and had reportedly moved recently to the Irno Valley. He had reportedly told colleagues he was in Agropoli the day before his death.
An autopsy is expected to take place in the coming days. Investigators have confirmed only that he was shot before being doused in flammable liquid; the reasoning behind that sequence remains part of the investigation.
