An entire day inside the house in Pietracatella searching for traces of the ricin that, now seven months ago, killed Sara Di Vita and her mother Antonella Di Ielsi. The team comprising experts from the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, along with German and Italian police, entered the Di Vita family home in the town in the province of Campobasso at 10 o'clock this morning and remained inside until evening. Equipped with state-of-the-art apparatus and wearing special suits to avoid contamination, the experts collected samples throughout the house, from furniture, clothing and other objects.
"An activity," clarified Larino prosecutor Elvira Antonelli, who remained on site throughout the day to oversee operations, "that will not yield immediate results. The swabs collected will now need to be processed in Germany."
The area surrounding the victims' home was cordoned off and journalists were kept at a distance. In the square in front of the entrance, under a scorching sun, several gazebos were erected, while other officers who were following the operations remotely worked inside some vans. However, contrary to what had been established by the Prosecutor's Office in the preceding days, lawyers and expert consultants for the parties were unable to follow the operations remotely in real time, and so, a few minutes after the inspection began, they left Pietracatella. Only one of them, Mauro Iacoppini, consultant to lawyer Vittorino Facciolla, legal representative of Gianni Di Vita — Sara's father and Antonella's husband — entered the house to follow the operations directly. Once the work is concluded, all parties will be provided with a video documenting every moment of the inspection and the activities carried out.
The mayor of Pietracatella, Antonio Tomassone, also arrived on site mid-morning. "The town is asking for the truth about what happened. For our community," said the mayor, referring to the day's activities, "any initiative useful for uncovering the truth is welcome; we are all waiting to understand what may have happened." He concluded: "We are all close to those who are working to reach the truth, from the prosecutor to the police."
The investigation for premeditated double murder remains for now against unknown persons (five doctors are under investigation in the file, but for manslaughter). In addition to the results of the work carried out by the experts in Germany — who are also analysing samples of the victims' organs taken during the autopsies, the blood of Gianni and Alice Di Vita, Sara's sister, and food items seized from the home — all data from phones and computers seized from the various family members is also awaited. The timeframes are therefore still lengthy, as the prosecutor herself reiterated today.
In Pietracatella, during the hours of the inspection, the Campobasso police chief, Domenico Farinacci, was also present alongside Antonelli and the head of the Mobile Squad, Marco Graziano.
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