The scenario hypothesized by specialists at the Cardarelli hospital was turned over to investigators investigating a premeditated double murder. Now the Prosecutor’s Office is asking for new analyzes from the Pavia Centre
From our correspondent
CAMPOBASSO – The ricinodorless, colorless and tasteless, dissolved in water. Antonella Di Vita, 50 years old, her daughter Sara, 15, and perhaps also Gianni, 55, husband and father, sipping from glasses, almost certainly on the evening of December 23rd.
Them having dinner together, mussels, garden salad and cold cuts on the table. Alice, the 19-year-old eldest, out with friendsfor a pizza. A scenario — that of lethal substance poured right into the drinking water — hypothesized by specialists at the Cardarelli hospital and turned over to the investigators who are investigating, for double premeditated murderabout the deaths of the two women, shortly after Christmas.
A suspicion, not yet a certainty. But it comes from scientific evidence, the same ones for which – with a sort of blitz – the prosecutor of Larino Elvira Antonelli and the head of Mobile Marco Graziano went to the Pavia poison control centerthe center of excellence of the Maugeri Foundation which, with work lasting a couple of months and after having discarded 1240 “toxic agents”, identified mother and daughter ricin positivity and negativityfollowing blood tests, by Gianni.
The aim of the meeting with the director Carlo Locatelli was to have an “in-person” clarification on the timing of exposure to venom and the overall reading of the analytical data in light of clinical course of the two victims. Not only that. Remains of meals consumed on the 26th may have been delivered to Pavia – “frozen” by forensic scientists – the aim is to understand if there were any anomalous substances inside.
For doctors from Campobasso, as they explained to the investigators, it was “an on-off death”. The effect of ricin poisoning it is in fact this“a switch that suddenly goes off” and which takes away life, destroying the “energy centers” of the cells. All this between 48 and 72 hours after ingestion.
But why water? If it had ended up in food, the probability of its instant volatilization, already from cooking at 80°, would have been very high. The hypothesis of the ingestion of castor seeds has little credit, similar to beans, also dangerous although not like ricin obtained with a very complicated chemical process. «On the palate – it is explained – they are disgusting», it is difficult to think of normal chewing. Finally, inhalation is excludedthe cough symptoms are not compatible with those shown by Sara and Antonella, including repeated retching.
Investigators don’t think that the poison was dissolved in the drips performed by a nursea “close friend” of Gianni who called him at home, in Pietracatella, for infusions. Contacted by Courierthe man clarified that “I deposited everything I had to say at the police station immediately after the incident”. And then with Pietro Terminiello and Graziella De Rio, the lawyers of one of the 5 doctors investigated for manslaughter, he said he was available to be heard during the defense investigation on May 4th.
The name of the nurse, who works in the hospital, as well as that of his wife, a teacher, he is among the 11 people that they could have exchanged telephone messages with Alice, whose iPhone 12 yesterday was subjected to “unrepeatable tests” aimed at the “forensic copy”. The investigators repeat that she is the “offended party”the data extracted concerns family chats, contacts with doctors, social exchanges with friends, meals consumed, geolocation and online chronologies. Today another appointment at the Polyclinic of Bari, again in front of the parties, for the analysis on the histological “slides” of Sara and Antonella.
