US EditionItalian Prosecutors Open Murder Probe After Ricin Found in Mother, Teen Deaths
Toxicology tests in Italy and Switzerland found ricin in the victims’ blood, and prosecutors say no suspect has been identified.
- Italian prosecutors have opened a murder investigation following the deaths of Sara Di Vita, 15, and her mother Antonella Di Ielsi, 50, after laboratory tests revealed the presence of ricin, a deadly poison.
- Doctors initially attributed the symptoms to food poisoning after a family lunch in Pietracatella, a municipality 260km south-east of Rome, and discharged the pair; their symptoms quickly worsened, prompting re-admission.
- Laboratory tests conducted in Italy and Switzerland confirmed ricin, while Dr. Vincenzo Cuzzone, head of intensive care at Cardarelli hospital in Campobasso, described multi-organ failure occurring at "truly unparalleled speed."
- Sara's father, Gianni, the former mayor of Pietracatella, recovered after hospitalization, while Italian media report that doctors who discharged the victims are under investigation for manslaughter.
- Ricin, a highly toxic chemical found naturally in castor beans, causes rapid organ failure when ingested in tiny quantities, and experts note there is no known antidote for this poison.
26 Articles
26 Articles
Three months after the deaths, the tests revealed richness — one of the most lethal veins in the world — in the bodies of the two victims.
Italy news: Police launch murder probe as mayor's wife and daughter 'poisoned with ricin at Christmas dinner'
Police in Italy have launched a double murder investigation after the wife and daughter of a former mayor were killed after allegedly being poisoned with ricin
The investigators will return to Pietracatella in the home of the Di Vita family, still under kidnapping for three months, to search for traces of ricin, the toxin that killed Antonella Di Ielsi, 50 years old, and her daughter Sara Di Vita, 15 years old. The house remains the fulcrum of the investigations: it is here, according to the investigators, that the poison would be administered, probably several times, through food or drink. After weeks…
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