Overview
- Police carried out an unannounced visit in Pietracatella as they press the inquiry into the Christmas deaths of Antonella Di Ielsi and her daughter Sara Di Vita.
- Gianni Di Vita’s longtime lawyer, Arturo Messere, quit the case citing “contingent reasons,” and Vittorino Facciolla took over with Di Vita’s status described as a victim in a case against unknown persons.
- About 30 relatives and acquaintances have been questioned, and investigators may recall Di Vita and his elder daughter after a first round of more than 10 hours of interviews.
- Prosecutors reclassified the case to suspected premeditated double homicide after preliminary tests from the Pavia poison center flagged ricin traces in the victims’ blood, with the definitive toxicology and full autopsies still pending.
- Early autopsy notes raised clinical questions that some sources say do not fully match classic ricin damage, yet prosecutors maintain the poisoning line while planning new home inspections, device searches, and fresh tests on the father’s blood.