Forlì, September 10, 2026 – The report from Racis in Rome on the psychological profile of Luca Spada speaks of serial murders “on which the same Gip (judge for preliminary investigations) has excluded any evidential severity” and therefore “unrelated to the proof of his responsibility for the only fact for which he is ‘on trial’”.
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Lawyers Marco Martines and Gloria Parigi defend ‘Spadino’, the Red Cross rescue driver from Forlimpopoli-Bertinoro, arrested for the murder of Deanna Mambelli, an 85-year-old from Forlì who died during a so-called ‘secondary’ transport: this means that the elderly woman did not present immediate risks to her health; yet, shortly after leaving the Pierantoni-Morgagni hospital, she felt unwell. The autopsy established that the cause of death could be air injection: with her, in the rear compartment of the ambulance, was indeed Luca Spada. The Forlì prosecutor’s office investigated five other deaths that occurred during Spada’s shifts or as a result of illnesses when he was present (Mirella Montanari, Francesco Mario Scavone, Edoarda Gasperini, Vincenzo Pesci, and Vittorio Benini), all aged between 69 and 98, from February 13 to November 25, 2025 (the last being that of Deanna Mambelli). For Deanna’s death, there will be an immediate trial: the trial will begin in the Assize Court on October 15.
Marco Martines and Gloria Parigi emphasize, however, “an uncontrolled spread of material” only “minimally admissible in what will be the trial” (and they appeal to the “confidentiality protected by law” and the “delicacy of the case”). Essentially, in the already scheduled trial Spada will not be charged as a serial killer but solely for the death of Deanna Mambelli: the judge for preliminary investigations established that there was insufficient evidence to link the arrest to the other deaths. During the investigation (formally still not closed) that Racis, the Carabinieri Scientific Investigations Group, namely the psychological section of the Ris, had highlighted an “obsessive and uncontrollable motivational drive… selecting victims, elderly and sick, in ways compatible with a predatory and serial logic…”.
According to Spada’s defenders, this document will not enter the trial for the death of Deanna Mambelli and “risks misleading those who will be called to decide”. That is, the popular jury provided by the Assize Court, which will not be the protagonist of a “Crime”, meaning a program or TV series dedicated to the most heinous crimes. According to Martines, “each of the episodes has its own story, in which the differences far outweigh the similarities, starting from the ‘category’ of the victims”.
Regarding some of Spada’s phrases, for example when he defined himself as “Code 4” (that is the code used to mark a death among healthcare workers dealing with emergencies), the lawyers reflect on the fact that these are conversations between “people who were daily in contact with illness and death and tried in their own way to exorcise them, if you will, in poor taste”. Finally, a highlight: “Obviously to address the real issue of criminal responsibility” (that is the guilt of ‘Spadino’) “everything else, what really matters, is not sufficient”. However, they warn of the risk of “ruining a person, whatever the outcome of the trial”.
