Louis Dassilva walked free in the early hours of Tuesday after a Rimini court acquitted him of the murder of 78-year-old Pierina Paganelli. This leaves one of Italy’s most high-profile recent criminal cases without a culprit.
The Rimini Corte d’Assise acquitted Dassilva on the grounds that he “did not commit the act.” The presiding judge Fiorella Casadei read the verdict and ordering his immediate release. The court found the prosecution had failed to establish his guilt beyond reasonable doubt.
The ruling came in the early hours of the morning, after more than 16 hours of deliberation. The ten-month trial concluded a three-year investigation that had focused on the 36-year-old neighbour almost from the moment Paganelli was killed on 3 October 2023.
Dassilva broke down in tears at the reading of the verdict. His wife Valeria Bartolucci, who had publicly maintained his innocence throughout the proceedings, also wept. The couple embraced outside Rimini’s Casetti prison shortly afterwards. “Justice has won,” Dassilva said. “This is the rebirth of justice.” Bartolucci told journalists outside, “We will never return to via del Ciclamino.”
The case
Pierina Paganelli, 78, was found dead in the garage of her home in via del Ciclamino, Rimini, on 3 October 2023. She had been stabbed 29 times. Her body was discovered by her daughter-in-law Manuela Bianchi, the partner of Paganelli’s son Giuliano Saponi.
Investigators established that Manuela Bianchi had been conducting an extramarital affair with Dassilva, who lived nearby and was married to Valeria Bartolucci. The prosecution’s theory was that Paganelli had discovered the relationship and been killed to silence her.
The trial, which began in September 2025, rested heavily on the credibility of Bianchi’s testimony. It was effectively the only concrete element supporting the charges against Dassilva alongside the absence of an alibi. His DNA was never found at the crime scene, and the murder weapon was never recovered. A key dispute centred on footage from a pharmacy camera in via del Ciclamino which prosecutors argued showed the killer leaving after the murder. A court-appointed expert, however, concluded the figure captured was a different resident entirely.
The defence argued throughout that the investigation had been conducted in a flawed and imprecise manner and that alternative hypotheses had never been properly explored.
The prosecution may yet appeal the verdict. Paganelli’s family left the courtroom immediately after the ruling was read.
