Secrets, betrayals and broken destinies: the story of Yara Gambirasio that shook Italy

The investigation into the kidnapping and murder of a 13-year-old girl in a small Italian town has uncovered shocking secrets about several respected local families. As a result, the lives of many people have changed forever. However, the strange story of this crime still holds many mysteries. Moreover, many still doubt that the man convicted of this murder is really the criminal.

The small town of Brembate di Sopra is located in Lombardy in northern Italy. Only seven thousand people live there, and the locals know each other very well. Life in the town flows measuredly and calmly. Over the past century, residents have been shaken by only two events - a fire in the hospital and a car accident near the town hall.

So when 13-year-old Yara Gambirasio went missing on November 26, 2010, the news spread quickly across the city and then throughout Lombardy. The circumstances of her disappearance were very strange. That evening, the girl went to a sports center to drop off a stereo system, where they were preparing for a gymnastics competition.

Yara handed the equipment to the trainer and trained in the gym for a while. Then she left the building and was never seen again. The last information received from Yara was a text message sent to a friend. In it, Yara confirmed a meeting for the next day and wrote that she would bring a cake with her. After that, her phone stopped working.

It became immediately clear: Yara could neither run away from home, nor commit suicide. Ahead was a gymnastics competition, for which she had prepared long and hard, and was supposed to perform in just a few days. The police's communication with the parents also did not reveal any problems. Yara's father and mother were decent and respected people in the city and adored their only daughter.

The teenager's disappearance caused a huge public outcry. In response, the regional authorities sent Letizia Ruggeri, a police commissioner from Bergamo, to Brembate di Sopra. She specialized in mafia cases and had several serious cases of organized crime on her resume.

Ruggeri began her investigation by searching for witnesses as usual. She found out that on the day of Yara's disappearance, two suspicious men were spotted in a red sports car near the sports center. The investigator also requested data from all mobile phones that were found near the place where the girl went missing on November 26. There were quite a few of them - 15 thousand.

In Lombardy, they began randomly inspecting cars on the roads and checking documents and trunks at checkpoints. They also listened to hundreds of telephone conversations. The process was very labor-intensive and expensive, but the measures soon bore fruit. By randomly listening to phone numbers from a list, the police came across Moroccan Mohamed Fikri.

In a conversation with a fellow countryman, he said the phrase: "Forgive me, Lord, I did not kill her." They began to search for Fikri, and just in time. At that time, he was trying to leave the country: he was arrested on December 4 on board a ship sailing to Tangier. The Moroccan claimed that he knew nothing and insisted that he was not involved in the disappearance of the child. There was no evidence against him, except for one phrase he said.

Almost three months after her disappearance, in February 2011, Yara Gambirasio's body was found in a vacant lot near the neighboring commune of Chignolo d'Isola. Investigator Letizia Ruggeri commented on the situation:

The girl's body was found covered with branches, and her phone was found nearby - the SIM card was missing. Yara's clothes were torn, but, according to the examination, no traces of rape were found. The killer stabbed her several times and, when she was fatally wounded, left her to die.

During the examination of the body, experts established that Yara had desperately resisted and had managed to inflict injuries on the attacker. DNA samples belonging to a person temporarily designated as "Unknown 1" were found under her fingernails. Analysis showed that these samples did not match the DNA of the detained Moroccan. He had to be released.

There was no such DNA in the Italian police database, and the investigation reached a dead end. Then Letizia Ruggeri decided to act differently: she organized the collection of DNA samples from visitors to a nightclub located near the place where Yara’s body was found. This idea turned out to be correct. Among the regulars of the club, a man named Damiano Guerignoni was identified - his DNA was similar to that found earlier.

But Guerignoni had an ironclad alibi: he had been at home the entire time on the day of Yara's disappearance. This was confirmed by both relatives and neighbors. The investigation had reached a dead end again. Meanwhile, the pressure on Ruggeri was increasing: its managers, the parents of the dead girl, and the public were demanding quick results.

The press began to hound the commissioner, accusing her of incompetence and even deliberate sabotage. Sexist statements were also used: "What are the chances that this woman will be able to solve such a complex case?" The Italians believed that there was no chance at all.

But Ruggeri continued to do her job. She had a DNA sample, and the investigator decided to find all possible relatives of its owner, including connections to Guerignoni. She was given a file with the names of people who had lived since 1716! All currently living people were given a genetic analysis, but the result was again disappointing - no complete match was found.

The closest person to the killer was Giuseppe Guerignoni, the brother of the father of Damiano, who had an alibi. He had died several years earlier, but the family kept envelopes with stamps containing samples of the man's saliva. It is highly likely that this man was the father of the killer.

Yara's parents paid for the exhumation of Giuseppe's body and hired a geneticist who took DNA samples. The initial version was confirmed - the killer was the deceased's son. But the tests of Giuseppe's two sons showed that they were not involved in the murder. This means there was another son, unknown to the family.

The story of the illegitimate heir-murderer leaked to the press and caused a stir. A real witch hunt began in quiet Lombardy. Wives began to carefully study the faces of their husbands, comparing them with the portrait of Giuseppe published in the newspapers, and suspecting them of infidelity. A stream of denunciations of colleagues, neighbors and even casual acquaintances poured into the police.

But Ruggeri was no longer interested in all this - she was on the trail. The commissioner decided to follow Giuseppe's career and discovered something interesting. It turns out that in his youth the man worked as a driver and had a mistress - a worker at a textile factory. Both were in relationships, so they met secretly.

The affair fell into the hands of journalists, and a new boom began in Lombardy. Now elderly husbands suspected their wives, who had once worked in the light industry, of adultery. Newspaper editors were literally inundated with anonymous letters full of accusations, dirty details and family secrets.

The noise around the story died down only after the name of the cheater became known - Esther Arzuffi. In her youth, she was a red-haired beauty, but her marriage was unhappy. Her husband was much older, and Esther began an affair with the driver. From him, she gave birth to a son and a daughter. Giuseppe did not acknowledge the illegitimate children and did not tell anyone about them.

Esther and Giuseppe's son, Massimo Bossetti, lived in the town of Mapello with his wife and three children. The match between the samples from the corpse and his DNA was complete. Moreover, it soon became clear that Massimo had been seen many times near the Gambirasio house in Brembate di Sopra. And it was his red car that was spotted near the sports center on the day of Yara's abduction.

A check of police databases showed that Massimo Bossetti had some sins. Namely, he had been arrested for possession and distribution of child pornography. Several gymnasts from Yara's section recognized him from his photograph. The man approached them and tried to get acquainted.

Everything pointed against Massimo, but there was one "but". The expert found the blood of her female trainer on the murdered woman's clothes. How did it get there? A phone check showed that the sports teacher had deleted all her messenger chats. Who was she corresponding with? What connected the pedophile from a neighboring town and the children's trainer? Answers to these questions could not be found.

Massimo Bossetti was found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. He did not admit his guilt. After serving four years in prison, he again declared his innocence. His wife and children confirmed that he was at home with them on the day of the girl's murder. But few people cared anymore.

Massimo's criminal vice had caused his entire family to suffer. In a small town, rumors and gossip spread quickly. Soon, all of Mapello knew that old Bossetti, who was suffering from cancer, was raising three children, whom his wife had given birth to.

The disgust towards this family in the town was so strong that Massimo's sister was beaten twice in the street by neighbors. The murderer's wife was also exposed. It turned out that she had cheated on her husband with at least two men. The lovers themselves expressed a desire to tell the press about it.

The Yara Gambirasio case has become the most high-profile in Lombardy in the last half century. It has shown not only the limitless possibilities of modern science. It has also revealed the medieval way of life in small towns. There, everyone knows everything about everyone instantly and shows cruelty to those who have violated the unspoken rules even years later. As for Bossetti's guilt, it still raises doubts among many.

The discovery of this crime shocked the entire region, revealing not only the secrets of individual families, but also the cruel mores of a closed society. But was Massimo Bossetti really the killer, or was he a victim of circumstances and biased public opinion? Do you think this investigation was fair? Share your opinion in the comments!