What happened
Two young women, Rosaria Lopez and Donatella Colasanti, were abducted and attacked by three men in 1975. Lopez was killed; Colasanti survived by pretending to be dead.
The investigation
Colasanti’s survival provided prosecutors with direct testimony. Police arrested two perpetrators quickly, while Andrea Ghira fled and remained wanted for decades.
What the courts or investigators concluded
Angelo Izzo and Gianni Guido were convicted. Ghira was convicted in absentia; later investigations concluded he had died abroad years earlier.
Why the case remains significant
The case became a turning point in Italian debate about sexual violence, class privilege and the way courts and society treated women who survived extreme attacks.
Case context
Crime by Region organizes cases geographically so readers can move from one file to other investigations from the same country. For unresolved or contested cases, the wording above reflects the distinction between confirmed events, investigative theories and findings actually established in court.