The Murder of Melania Rea

Carmela “Melania” Rea was 28 years old and the mother of a young daughter. On April 18, 2011, she disappeared during an outing in the Ascoli Piceno area with her husband, army corporal major Salvatore Parolisi, and their child. Her body was found two days later near Ripe di Civitella, in the province of Teramo.

Melania Rea

Melania's case became one of Italy's most closely watched homicide investigations of the decade. The public attention often focused on the contradictions in her husband's account and on his private life, but the central fact of the case is that Melania was a young mother whose disappearance quickly became a murder investigation.

The investigation

Parolisi initially reported that Melania had vanished during the family outing. Investigators later challenged key parts of his account. He was arrested in July 2011 and charged with her murder.

Italian courts ultimately concluded that Parolisi was responsible for killing his wife. The proceedings also examined whether particular aggravating circumstances applied, which became important to the sentence imposed at later stages.

Conviction and appeals

Parolisi chose an abbreviated trial procedure and was initially sentenced to life imprisonment. On appeal, that punishment was reduced to 30 years.

In February 2015, Italy's Court of Cassation confirmed his criminal responsibility for murder but excluded the aggravating circumstance of cruelty and sent the case back for a new calculation of the sentence. The Perugia Court of Assize of Appeal then reduced the prison term to 20 years on May 27, 2015.

Final judgment

On June 13, 2016, the Court of Cassation rejected Parolisi's further appeal and made the 20-year sentence definitive. The ruling closed the ordinary criminal proceedings over responsibility and punishment for Melania's murder.

Parolisi has continued publicly to maintain his innocence, but that position does not alter the legal status of the case: his conviction is final.

Timeline

1. April 18, 2011
   Melania disappears

   Melania Rea disappears during an outing in the Ascoli Piceno area with her husband and young daughter.

2. April 20, 2011
   Her body is found

   Melania is found dead near Ripe di Civitella in the province of Teramo.

3. July 19, 2011
   Parolisi is arrested

   Investigators arrest Salvatore Parolisi in connection with the homicide.

4. 2012–2013
   Conviction and first appeal

   Parolisi is convicted; the original life sentence is later reduced to 30 years on appeal.

5. February 2015
   Cassation confirms responsibility

   The Court of Cassation confirms the murder responsibility but removes the cruelty aggravating circumstance and orders resentencing.

6. May 27, 2015
   Sentence reduced to 20 years

   The Perugia appellate court recalculates the punishment at 20 years.

7. June 13, 2016
   Twenty-year sentence becomes definitive

   The Court of Cassation rejects the final appeal and makes the sentence definitive.

Current status

The case is solved and adjudicated. Salvatore Parolisi stands finally convicted of murdering Melania Rea, with a definitive 20-year prison sentence confirmed by Italy's Court of Cassation in June 2016.