Chiara Poggi, 26 years old, was killed with a "blunt object", never found, on 13 August 2007 in the family villa in Garlasco. The alarm was raised by her boyfriend Alberto Stasi, a Bocconi student, who is now 43 years old and is finishing serving a final 16-year sentence in probationary custody, which came after two acquittals in the first and second degree.
Now the Pavia Prosecutor's Office, which with the new investigations has rewritten the history of the crime by exonerating Stasi, wants to bring to trial the friend of the victim's brother, Andrea Sempio, a 38-year-old shop assistant. In the meantime, the former Bocconi student's defense is ready to ask the Brescia Court of Appeal to review the trial. These are the main stages of the complex and controversial legal case.
24 SEPTEMBER 2007 - Stasi is stopped. DNA believed to be compatible with Chiara's was found on the pedals of his bike. The investigating judge, however, released him four days later: there were no solid clues.
17 DECEMBER 2009 - Stasi is acquitted in the abbreviated trial by the Vigevano magistrate, Stefano Vitelli.
6 DECEMBER 2011 - The Assize Court of Appeal of Milan confirms the acquittal.
18 APRIL 2013 - The Court of Cassation annuls the second degree sentence and sends the documents back to the Court of Assizes of Appeal for a new judgement. 17 DECEMBER 2014 - In the appeal trial bis Stasi is sentenced to 16 years.
12 DECEMBER 2015 - The Supreme Court confirms the sentence and Stasi turns himself in in Bollate prison.
28 MARCH 2017 - The first investigation against Andrea Sempio is closed by the investigating judge of Pavia at the request of the Prosecutor's Office.
30 JULY 2020 - A second investigation, resulting from an information from the Carabinieri and in which Sempio is not formally investigated, is closed.
11 MARCH 2025 - Sempio receives information on the matter and discovers that he is under investigation again. This time too the file was opened at the instigation of Stasi's defence.
14 MAY 2025 - Searches are carried out at Sempio's home in Voghera and his parents' home in Garlasco. Cell phones, PCs and notes seized.
20 MAY 2025 - In the new Pavia investigation into Sempio, Stasi is also heard as a witness.
26 SEPTEMBER 2025 - Further searches at the home of Sempio's family members are ordered in the Brescia investigation for corruption in judicial documents on the former Pavia prosecutor Mario Venditti, who asked for the young man to be dismissed in 2017.
18 DECEMBER 2025 - The hearing is held relating to the evidentiary incident which concerns, in particular, the expert opinion of Denise Albani: the DNA on Chiara's nails would be compatible with the male genetic line of the Sempio family, even if from a scientific point of view doubts remain.
29 APRIL 2026 - Sempio is served with an invitation to appear for questioning. The accusation in collaboration with Stasi or others disappears from the indictment and he is indicated as the sole person responsible for the murder of Chiara committed with hatred and cruelty, with at least 12 shots, because she would have refused his approach.
6 MAY 2026 - Marco Poggi is heard as a witness in the Prosecutor's Office in Pavia, where Sempio also appears, making use of the right not to answer.
7 MAY 2026 - The Pavia Prosecutor's Office closes the investigation into Sempio by filing the documents and highlighting 21 elements against him. In the following days the defense files its counter-advice.
17 SEPTEMBER 2026 - The position of the former prosecutor Venditti who was accused of corruption is dismissed in Brescia. Giuseppe Sempio's move to Pavia, where the role of former carabinieri and lawyers is explored.
28 SEPTEMBER 2026 - The Pavia Prosecutor's Office closes the investigations for the second time and files other reports. Shadows emerge from the documents regarding the actions of the RIS at the time, on which a new line of investigations has been opened.
16 OCTOBER 2026 - Sempio's lawyers file another five reports from their experts to respond point by point to the accusations.
3 NOVEMBER 2026 - The Prosecutor's Office, directed by Fabio Napoleone, requests a trial for the 38-year-old and awaits the setting of the GUP hearing.
