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Donato Bilancia, dubbed the "Monster of Liguria," remains infamous as Italy's most prolific serial killer. Over six months in 1997 and 1998, he murdered 17 people in a chilling spree that terrorized the Ligurian region and beyond. His victims included nine men, six women, and two of their wives, many of whom were killed at random in brutal acts of violence.
Bilancia’s horrific trajectory can be traced back to a childhood marked by humiliation. Psychologists who studied him after his arrest revealed that he suffered severe emotional abuse. His mother publicly shamed him for bedwetting by airing his mattress for neighbors to see, and his father stripped him naked during a family trip to mock his genital size. This humiliation, compounded by physical atrophy of his lower limbs, left lasting scars.
His psychological state worsened after the suicide of his brother, Michele, who threw himself and his four-year-old son in front of a train following a bitter divorce. The tragedy fueled Bilancia’s hatred of women, which became a driving force in his crimes.
Bilancia’s killing spree began at age 47, following decades of petty crime, theft, and gambling addiction. He described his first murders as acts of revenge. On October 16, 1997, he strangled a gambling den owner, Giorgio Centenaro, after losing €220,000 in a rigged card game. Displeased that the death was misclassified as a heart attack, Bilancia vowed to escalate his violence.
Just days later, on October 24, he killed his former friend, Maurizio Parenti, and Parenti’s wife, Carla Scotto, who had just returned from their honeymoon. Bilancia forced the couple to open their safe before fatally shooting them. This marked the beginning of a spree that would see him target both acquaintances and strangers.
In November, Bilancia murdered jeweler Bruno Solari and his wife, Maria Luigia Pitto, during a robbery. That same month, he killed a currency exchanger, Luciano Marro, in Ventimiglia. By early 1998, his focus shifted to night watchmen, women, and sex workers.
Among his victims were Albanian national Stela Truya and Ukrainian Ljudmyla Zubskova, both prostitutes working along Liguria’s coastline. His heinous crimes escalated further in April 1998, when he committed what became known as the "train murders."
On Easter Sunday, April 12, Bilancia followed nurse Elisabetta Zoppetti into a train bathroom and fatally shot her, leaving behind a four-year-old daughter. Days later, he killed babysitter Maria Angela Rubino in a similar manner, forcing her to kneel in a mock execution before shooting her. He then desecrated her body, an act that underscored his depravity.
Investigators began connecting the killings after discovering that many were committed with the same Smith & Wesson revolver. A breakthrough came when Bilancia attempted to kill Lorena Castro, a transgender prostitute, in Novi Ligure. Though he believed her dead, Castro survived by playing dead and later provided crucial details about his car—a dark Mercedes—and his appearance.
A toll booth violation proved to be Bilancia’s undoing. The man who sold him the car reported him to authorities after receiving numerous fines. Police tracked Bilancia’s movements, collecting DNA from coffee cups and cigarettes he left behind at bars. This evidence, coupled with Castro’s testimony, led to his arrest on May 6, 1998.
During his confession, Bilancia chillingly told prosecutors, “The beginning is not one murder, not eight murders, but seventeen.” He admitted to all his crimes, including his initial murder, previously thought to be a natural death.
In April 2000, he was sentenced to 13 life sentences and an additional 28 years in prison. The court ruled that he would never be released. Bilancia died in prison in 2020, aged 69, after contracting Covid-19.
His crimes remain a grim reminder of the devastating impact of childhood trauma and unchecked mental illness. As journalist Pino Corrias reflected, “It is one of the darkest, most frightening, yet instructive stories about the human capacity for violence.”
Source: https://www.dailymail.co.uk
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