Filippo Turetta, who confessed to the murder of his ex-girlfriend Giulia Cecchettin last year, admitted in a Venice court on Friday that he had planned the crime.
Turetta, appearing for the first time at his trial, acknowledged telling “a series of lies” when he initially denied premeditation to prosecutor Andrea Petroni.
He revealed he had made a ‘to-do list’ days before the murder. This list included withdrawing cash with an ATM card and then discarding it to cover his tracks. Turetta also admitted researching online to avoid having his car detected during his escape. He has confessed to fatally stabbing Cecchettin on November 11, 2023, near Venice, days before she was set to graduate in biomedical engineering from Padua University.
The case shocked Italy, highlighting issues of femicide and gender-based violence.
Prosecutors stated that Turetta, enrolled in the same university course as Cecchettin, stabbed her 75 times. Cecchettin was reported missing on the day of her murder, last seen dining with Turetta. Her body was discovered in a gully at Val Caltea near Lake Barcis, Friuli, on November 18, 2023.
After abandoning the body, Turetta fled but was located a week later in Leipzig, Germany, stranded after his car ran out of petrol. Giulia’s father, Gino Cecchettin, was in court as a civil plaintiff. At her funeral in December, he hoped her death might lead to a turning point against gender-based violence in Italy. Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara urged schools to reflect on Gino’s message, promoting awareness among students.
Giulia’s father: “we have understood who Filippo Turetta is”
In court, Gino Cecchettin addressed Turetta’s confession, saying, “We have now understood who Filippo Turetta is.” He continued, “The most painful moment was knowing what my daughter went through in the last moments of her life. But that is not the point of the trial. The point is that we have understood who Filippo Turetta is.”
Cecchettin added, “Now his lawyer wants to understand more, but for me, it is very clear. What emerges today is that the life of others is a sacred thing, and we must not get into the merits of the lives of others.”
