Filippo Turetta has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Giulia Cecchettin, a university student whose brutal murder shed a grim light on femicide in Italy. Cecchettin, 22, was stabbed more than 70 times before her body was wrapped in black plastic bags and dumped in a ditch near a lake north of Venice in November last year. His murder sparked protests across the country.
Turetta, Cecchettin’s ex-boyfriend, was arrested in Germany on November 19, 2023, the day after the body was found. In October he told a Venice court that he had planned to kidnap and kill Cecchettin after she refused to return to him.
The judges also sentenced Turetta to pay total compensation of 760,000 euros to the Cecchettin family. Prosecutor Andrea Petroni had asked for a life sentence, stating that Turetta had acted with “particular brutality.”
Turetta’s lawyer, Giovanni Caruso, had argued that the life sentence was excessive, stating that his client “was not Pablo Escobar,” the famous Colombian drug trafficker.
Cecchettin, a biomedical engineering student, disappeared on November 11, 2023 after going to a shopping center in Marghera, accompanied by Turetta, to buy a dress for her imminent graduation.
During the week-long police search, a highway surveillance image emerged showing Turetta hitting Cecchettin, who was trying to escape before being forced back into the car.
His father, Gino, told the press: “Justice has been done in accordance with current laws.” However, he added: “As a society, we have all lost.”
Last week he said his daughter’s memory had been further “humiliated” by Turetta’s comparison to Escobar. On Tuesday, attorney Caruso shook the father’s hand and told him, “I understand. “It’s my job, it’s not easy.”
Andrea Camerotto, Cecchettin’s uncle, told reporters: “I am not in favor of forgiveness; I will never forgive [a la persona] who killed my niece and I will never forgive those who hurt women.”
Cecchettin’s relationship with Turetta lasted about a year, before she ended it in August 2023. Her sister, Elena, told The Guardian last week that the “control and manipulation” had started very early, with a jealousy attack after Giulia said she was going to meet a male friend she knew from high school. And he added that he had never been physically violent, but that, as in many cases of femicide, Turetta could not accept that the relationship had ended.
A foundation was created last month in memory of Cecchettin.
Since Cecchettin’s death, 106 women have been murdered by a man in Italy. In the vast majority of cases, the suspect was their current or former partner.
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