On July 25, 2019, investigators initially suspected suicide when they found Domenico Montanari, 64, hanged in the historic Faenza butcher shop he co-owned. However, the investigation has led to a radical change in the reconstruction of his death, now considered a homicide in competition. Investigating judge Janos Barlotti has asked the prosecutor to formulate a formal charge within ten days against Gian Carlo Valgimigli, a 55-year-old former traffic policeman, and Daniel Mullaliu, a 31-year-old Albanian, brother of Valgimigli’s ex-partner.

Initially, the case was interpreted as the desperate act of an entrepreneur burdened by debts due to loan sharking. In fact, the former traffic warden had lent money to Montanari at high interest rates and had already been convicted of the butcher’s death in relation to usury. However, the murder hypothesis gained traction more recently thanks to the statements of a cellmate of Valgimigli in the Ferrara prison. This prisoner, with a criminal record for mafia crimes, claimed that Valgimigli had confided in him details of the butcher’s murder.

Significant details emerged during the investigation: the type of cord used for the hanging was nylon and it was assumed that Valgimigli had arranged the meeting between him and Montanari in the shop, where three accomplices would have immobilized him. The motive was also discussed: Montanari was considering reporting Valgimigli for his usurious loans.

However, the Prosecutor’s Office also considered other possibilities, suggesting that the prisoner could have spoken to obtain advantages with justice or that Valgimigli was boasting to gain credibility among criminals. Despite these alternative considerations, the investigating judge found the prisoner’s confidences plausible and noted details not reported by the press. Furthermore, the crime scene presented disturbing elements: the light was off and the victim’s phone was connected to the charger, factors that would not seem compatible with the idea of ​​suicide.