“In our legal system, you are condemned if you prove the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. And I, of doubts, I have very many ». The speaker is Roberto Bianco, defense consultant and coordinator of the defensive pool of Massimo Bossetti, the 51-year-old bricklayer definitively convicted of the murder of little Yara Gambirasio, which took place in the province of Bergamo on November 26, 2010. Very reserved, Bianco has always kept away from the spotlight. And to say that there was no shortage of cameras and journalists at the trial: it is one of the most followed cases in recent years.
So much so that it has already inspired a docu-series, which will soon be broadcast on Netflix. “The media pressure was enormous,” says Bianco, “as well as the consequences. Even the judges are men, and as such they can be influenced ».
Yara, who was only thirteen, disappeared from the sports center of Brembate di Sopra, in the province of Bergamo, where he trained in rhythmic gymnastics, around 6.40 pm on November 26, 2010. His body was found three months later, on February 26, 2011, in a field in Chignolo d ‘ Isola, about ten kilometers from the place of the disappearance. The autopsy revealed that the girl had been attacked, stabbed and abandoned in the camp: she would have died of cold. Rape was ruled out, but on the briefs there was a genetic trace: for the accusation it was the DNA of the murderer, who was called “Unknown1”.
A difficult case, the first in Italy where, in order to identify a murderer, DNA was taken from almost an entire population: about 18 thousand people. Through the comparisons between these DNA and that of Ignoto1, it was possible to identify a man, Giuseppe Guerinoni, a bus driver who died in 1999, as the murderer’s father. Assuming that, at the end of the 1960s, Guerinoni had had a clandestine relationship with a woman named Ester Arzuffi, the investigators then confounded the DNA of this lady’s son, Massimo Giuseppe Bossetti, a married bricklayer with three children, with that of Ignoto1. The rest is history: Bossetti was arrested and definitively sentenced to life imprisonment. But he has always professed innocence and, last January, he obtained from the Court of Cassation to be able to repeat the test on Ignoto’s DNA1.
Doctor White, is the case reopening?
«Bossetti’s conviction is essentially based on DNA analysis. If, by repeating the exams, one should arrive at a different genetic characterization of Ignoto1, it would mean that an innocent person has been in prison for almost seven years ».
But are you really convinced that Bossetti is not the killer?
«I am a consultant and I believe it is necessary, if I intend to offer my clients a quality service, not to be influenced by innocent or guilty moods. However, to answer your question, I have many doubts ».
Bossetti has always asked, from the beginning, to repeat the DNA test. But he has always been denied. Why?
«Reading the sentences, it would seem for different reasons. At first instance, the Bergamo Court of Assizes stated in one of its orders that “the deepening of the investigation on this point reveals any further investigation as not decisive”. The second instance sentence reads: “What is certain, in any case, is that there are no longer samples of genetic material to an extent capable of allowing new amplifications and typifications”. Which we know is not true. “
Indeed, the champions are there. And many too: 54. Why is it that the Supreme Court, after having sentenced Bossetti definitively, now gives the possibility to examine them? What has changed?
«I would say the context. Requests were previously made within the process. Now for defensive investigations following a final conviction. The decision of the Supreme Court is in line with a fundamental juridical principle: the right to defend oneself ».
What do you expect from the dna test?
«Ten years have now passed since the characterization of Ignoto1. Meanwhile, genetics have evolved. Today we have new technical tools available that could solve the many doubts and anomalies that have remained unanswered ».
Has the analysis of the finds already begun?
“No. In November 2019, the defense was authorized to access the finds, but no one ever told us when, where and how. A petition was therefore presented to raise this issue, but it was found inadmissible. Hence the appeals to the Court of Cassation and the decision of last January. We were recently informed that a hearing has been set for the second half of May. I believe that this delay is also due to the fact that the competent judge presented to the President of the Court a petition for his “abstention from trial”, believing that a situation of “prejudice” may have arisen in relation to the inadmissibility provision. And that the new judge, the one who should have replaced him, has in turn filed a petition for abstention ».
After all these years, aren’t you afraid that the DNA samples may have degraded?
“I hope that they are adequately preserved, because otherwise to my already numerous doubts others would be added”.
If the DNA test were to fall, however, all the other charges against Bossetti would not fall. The fact remains that his van was in the area where Yara disappeared on the night of the disappearance. And that he didn’t have an alibi.
«The procedural emergencies have ascertained that the identification of the van is not certain. Regarding the alibi, I think you will agree that if, after 4 years, you were asked to demonstrate where you were on a certain evening, the company would not be easy. On a personal basis, for what it’s worth, I’m sure I couldn’t. “
Bossetti’s phone hooked up Brembate’s cell that evening.
“True, but he hooked her in a different sector. This is no small fact, because it means that Bossetti was somewhere else ».
However, lime was found on Yara’s skin and wounds. And he’s a bricklayer, and he used to work in that area.
“Regarding the lime, even if the media did not report it, there was a long discussion in the courtroom about whether it is really lime. In fact, lime is hygroscopic: in the presence of humidity it transforms. More likely it is football, which is one of the most present elements on our planet ».
Does he also have a justification for the porn searches involving 13-year-old girls carried out on Bossetti’s home computer?
«The defense has shown, in the evidential phase, that many were not searches, but they were pieces of code of the pages making up the various sites, therefore sentences and links inserted in the site, and not searched or typed by the user. In practice, terms remained stored on the computer simply because those sites had been viewed even only as pop-up windows, that is, those windows that open automatically when you browse the web “.
We know that Bossetti was identified after it was discovered that Ignoto1 would be the son of driver Giuseppe Guerinoni. If it is proved that Ignoto1 is no longer Bossetti, does that mean that the murderer is another son of Guerinoni?
“If Bossetti is not Unknown1, then it means that we need to look for another culprit”.
Could the scene of the discovery of the body and the finds found tell another truth?
“I’m not an investigator and I can’t afford such assessments. On a personal basis, I believe that crime scenes, and also the analysis of the wounds of corpses, provide important information, often not adequately considered ».
Were there traces on Yara’s body that were not considered?
“The DNA of your gym teacher was found on a cuff of his jacket. On the garments nine hair findings, which provided mitochondrial genetic characterizations. Furthermore, on the two gloves, which were bought a few days ago, enough DNA was found to characterize two subjects, defined as Man1 and Woman1. The latter two have not been identified, but I am afraid also for the hair findings we have not come to an identification, even if only of the maternal lineage of the owners ».
The body was found in a spot flown over by rescuers several times. It was never understood how it was possible not to see it. Do you think Yara died in the Chignolo d’Isola camp?
“The defense has many doubts about it. There are some elements, in my opinion, convincing, which suggest a rehash of the body. What is certain is that the prosecution strongly supported the thesis of death on that field because, otherwise, a further doubt would have arisen about Bossetti’s guilt. The investigations had, in fact, ascertained that he had no place, other than his home, to keep his work equipment. Imagine to keep a person, even temporarily ».
You have been following this case for many years. What idea did you get? If it wasn’t Bossetti, who could have killed Yara and why?
“I don’t mean to sound repetitive, but it’s not part of my business to have an investigative function. On a personal basis, I am convinced that only one person is unable to commit a murder in the manner in which little Yara was killed ».
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