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Venice Local Police Officer Held in Bartender’s Killing as Investigators Probe Video Motive

The suspect told a judge he feared the spread of an intimate clip.

Overview

  • Riccardo Salvagno, 40, a Venice municipal police officer, is in custody after returning from Spain and being arrested near the crime scene on the night of January 5–6.
  • He told the examining judge he sought to stop Sergiu Tarna from sharing a "hot" video allegedly involving him and claimed the fatal shot was accidental, a version prosecutors are verifying.
  • Prosecutors describe the shooting as an execution, and CCTV indicates at least one accomplice who remains at large, while the murder weapon and Salvagno’s service pistol have not been found.
  • Investigators reconstructed the abduction and route using more than 200 hours of surveillance footage and data from the two phones found on the victim.
  • Detectives continue to examine drug-related debts as a possible motive and are working to identify a suspected accomplice believed to have fled abroad.