Rome prosecutors reopen case into director Pasolini’s murder — ANSA English

Rome prosecutors in Italy have opened a new investigation into the murder of director, poet and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini, who was killed in the coastal district of Ostia on the night between November 1 and 2, 1975. ANSA English reports.

The lawyer’s petition

The case was reopened following a petition by lawyer Stefano Macchioni. He said that recently discovered archival footage and other evidence allegedly indicate that Pino Pelosi, who initially took responsibility for the murder, was not alone that night.

Pasolini was 53. Pelosi, who was 17 at the time, confessed to the murder the day after the director’s death and was found guilty in 1976. Several years later, he recanted his confession, saying he had made it under pressure.

Pelosi was granted parole in 1983. In 2017, he died of cancer at the age of 58.

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Previous court rulings

The original court ruling concluded that Pelosi had not acted alone. At the same time, the appeals court, which upheld his conviction, did not confirm the role of possible accomplices. The ruling was later upheld by the Supreme Court of Cassation.

Macchioni previously represented Pasolini’s cousin Guido Mazzona. He is now acting on behalf of the Lazio Journalists’ Union, director Davide Grieco and writer Giovanni Giovannetti. The lawyer said he hoped to obtain answers to questions that had remained unexplained for many years and called on those who had remained silent about circumstances known to them to come forward.

Previous petitions to reopen the investigation, filed in 2016 and 2023, were rejected by prosecutors.