“Monster of Florence” is the nickname used by newspapers to refer to the perpetrator of eight (or seven, according to another hypothesis) double murders that occurred near the Tuscan capital between 1968 and 1985. The victims were couples who had secluded themselves in the car to have sexual intercourse (only in one case were they in a tent) or people who were mistaken for such by the monster. Although the murders were carried out with gunshots, the killer also attacked the corpses with a knife, sometimes mutilating the corpses of the female victims and removing some parts. The investigations and trials did not allow us to ascertain the truth about the crimes: the main suspect, Pietro Pacciani, convicted at first instance and acquitted on appeal, died while awaiting a new trial; two of his “snack companions”, Mario Vanni and Giancarlo Lotti, were definitively convicted, but found guilty of only four double murders.
The crimes of the monster of Florence
There are 16 murders attributed to the so-called monster of Florence. More precisely, these are eight double murders committed between 1968 and 1985 in the countryside surrounding the capital of Tuscany. The victims were couples who had secluded themselves in isolated places to be able to be intimate. All the murders were carried out with a .22 caliber Beretta pistol, but the victims were also shot with a knife. In some cases, the corpses were mutilated, with particular attention to the women’s breasts and pubis.
It is not known how many murderers there were: although the expression “monster of Florence”, which has now come into common use, suggests that it was a single man, the trials revealed that the perpetrators of the crimes, at least in some cases, were more than one.
The list of murders and the places affected
21 August 1968, Antonio Lo Bianco and Barbara Locci, aged 29 and 32, murdered in a narrow street in the municipality of Lastra a Signa, while they had secluded themselves in a car to have sexual intercourse. The two were secret lovers, as Barbara was married to another man, Stefano Mele. Together with the couple, at the time of the murder, Barbara’s son, Natalino Mele, a six-year-old boy who was sleeping in the back seat, was in the car. The murderer did not hit Natalino, who was therefore able to go out and call for help (according to an unproven hypothesis, he was accompanied by the murderer himself). It is not certain that the crime can be attributed to the monster of Florence, that is, to the same people who carried out the subsequent murders. The judiciary identified the culprit as Stefano Mele and sentenced him to 14 years in prison.
14 September 1974, Pasquale Gentilcore and Stefania Pettini, aged 19 and 18 respectively, killed in the Fontanine area of Rabatta, in the hamlet of Sagginale, in the municipality of Borgo San Lorenzo. After shooting Pasquale, the killer dragged Stefania out of the car and killed her with dozens of stab wounds. Subsequently, he penetrated the woman’s vagina with a vine shoot, and then attacked Pasquale’s body with the knife.
6 June 1981, Giovanni Foggi and Carmela De Nuccio, aged 30 and 21, killed in Mosciano di Scandicci. After the murder, the killer mutilated Carmela’s body, removing her pubis with a knife.
22 October 1981, Stefano Baldi and Susanna Cambi, aged 26 and 24, murdered in Travalle di Calenzano. The couple were supposed to get married after a few months. Also in this case, the woman’s body suffered mutilations after death.
19 June 1982, Paolo Mainardi and Antonella Migliorini, aged 22 and 21, killed in Baccaiano di Montespertoli. Paolo managed to survive the shots and start the car, but was unable to escape. He died after being taken to hospital. Antonella was instead killed instantly, but the killer was unable to attack the body.
9 September 1983, Horst Wilhelm Meyer and Jens-Uwe Rüsch, two young Germans aged 24, both male, who were aboard a van in the Giogoli area, in the municipality of Scandicci. They were probably killed because they were mistaken for a couple who had separated themselves. The corpses were not mutilated.
29 July 1984, Claudio Stefanacci and Pia Rontini, killed in the countryside near the town of Vicchio. Pia’s body was mutilated of the pubis and left breast and Claudio’s body was also stabbed several times.
8 September 1985, Jean-Michel Kraveichvili and Nadine Mauriot, two young French men aged 25 and 36, murdered in Scopeti, in the countryside near San Casciano in Val di Pesa. The two were in a tent (it was the only murder not committed while the couple was in the car) when they were surprised by the killer. Nadine’s body was mutilated.
The investigations: from the Sardinian lead to Pietro Pacciani
The investigations immediately proved difficult, also because the man convicted for the 1968 crime, Stefano Mele, was in prison when the other murders were committed. At first, the investigations focused on some men mentioned by Mele in the 1968 murder trial, all originally from Sardinia, so the newspapers spoke of a Sardinian lead. The hypothesis, however, did not produce concrete results. In 1984, as apprehension grew throughout Tuscany, the Florence prosecutor’s office set up an “anti-monster squad” to coordinate the investigation. The story, however, only took a turning point in the 1990s, several years after the last murder. In 1991 the team began to investigate Pietro Pacciani, a man involved in events of extreme degradation: in 1951, when he was 26 years old, he had murdered a man found in intimate attitudes with his girlfriend, who was then forced to have sexual intercourse in the presence of the corpse, and was sentenced to eight years in prison; subsequently, he repeatedly used violence against his wife and even raped his two daughters, being imprisoned for this from 1987 to 1991.
The trials and convictions: Pacciani and his snack companions
Pacciani was tried by the Florence Assize Court in 1993 and found guilty of seven double murders (he was acquitted for the 1968 crime), but the trial did not mark the end of the judicial affair: in March 1996 the Court of Appeal acquitted Pacciani of all charges; a few months later, the Court of Cassation annulled the acquittal, ordering a new trial, which however was not held because in February 1998, before the trial began, Pacciani died. His role in the murders has never been definitively clarified.
In addition to the trial against Pacciani, between 1996 and 2000 the trial of the so-called snack companions, i.e. men who allegedly participated in the crimes, was held. Two “comrades”, Mario Vanni and the self-confessed Giancarlo Lotti, were convicted, after three levels of judgement, for four of the double murders. Other alleged “comrades” were acquitted.
The latest developments in the case
The truth about the crimes of the monster of Florence has not yet been established. Among other things, the motive that explains all the murders has not been ascertained, as the hypothesis of sexual perversion is not sufficient. Among the possibilities examined by the investigators, one of the best known is that according to which the crimes were committed on commission: they would have been ordered by members of an esoteric sect, interested in using the parts removed from the women’s bodies as part of their rituals. The hypothesis has never been proven with certainty.
Moreover, over the years, magistrates, journalists and mystery enthusiasts have proposed numerous alternative theories, such as that according to which the monster is a former policeman or a doctor, and that according to which the crimes were committed by different people. No theory has been proven.
On several occasions, including in recent times, new elements have emerged. For example, organic traces have been found several times in the places of the crimes or on objects connected to the affair; in 2025 it was discovered that Natalino Mele, the child spared in the first crime, is not the biological son of Stefano Mele, but of one of the men investigated in the Sardinian gang, Giovanni Vinci. Furthermore, over the years some people linked to Pacciani, his snack buddies or the investigations have died in suspicious ways.
In essence, the crimes of the monster of Florence continue to be shrouded in mystery.
