No ambush, but a road accident caused by a vehicle that was never traced. That is how investigators have closed the case into what happened to Giuliano Saponi on 7 May 2023. The son of Pierina Paganelli was found in critical condition along Via Coriano, next to the bicycle he had been riding to work. Preliminary investigations judge Raffaella Ceccarelli ordered the case closed, granting the request filed by prosecutor Luca Bertuzzi.
The file had been reopened after lawyers Marco and Monica Lunedei raised the possibility of an assault with a club. New expert findings, however, pointed in a different direction: the injuries, the damage to the bicycle and the marks left on the road were consistent with an impact from a moving vehicle.
Investigators also found no evidence linking the case to Louis Dassilva, the former lover of Manuela Bianchi, Saponi’s wife. Dassilva, acquitted at first instance of Pierina’s murder, was not connected to the incident. Equally unsupported by concrete evidence was the theory of a link between the hit-and-run and the subsequent murder on Via del Ciclamino.
The identity of the driver, however, remains a mystery. Camera footage, phone records, biological traces and vehicle checks failed to identify either the vehicle or the person behind the wheel. The proceedings have therefore been closed against persons unknown.
