Suspicious deaths in ambulance, Spada trial postponed to October 22nd

The trial of Luca Spada, the 28-year-old from Meldola, former Red Cross driver, accused of killing the 85-year-old Deanna Mambelli, who died on 25 November 2025 during transport by ambulance from Forlì hospital to a private clinic for post-surgery rehabilitation, has been postponed until October 22nd. At the center of the hearing held on the morning of Thursday 15 October in front of the Court of Assizes of Forlì, the lawyer Massimiliano Starni (lawyer for the victim's family) explained to Adnkronos, the question of the validity of the first judicial autopsy: "In addition to having constituted a civil party and having proceeded with the preliminary questions, the question of the nullity of the first judicial autopsy was proposed, that is, the one on which the trial is essentially based", since "the defense of the accused claims that Spada was not allowed to participate, while the prosecutor's office and we maintain exactly the opposite".

The family's lawyer: "Convinced that the autopsy will be declared usable"

The issue concerns the fact that the 28-year-old participated in the judicial autopsy carried out the day after the first one, after the elements that had made him a suspect had emerged. "In the first phase, since he cannot be investigated for mere suspicion - clarifies Starni - the law requires that in a case of death an autopsy be carried out: if evidence emerges against someone, it is repeated, allowing the suspect to participate". Everything is postponed, for now, until October 22nd, when the judges will have to rule on the merits. "I am convinced that the autopsy will be declared usable - states the lawyer - and I am absolutely certain that at that point the trial will begin, with the first witnesses. I am very calm".

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The victim's family members meet Spada: "Shocked"

The 85-year-old's family members, present in the courtroom, met Spada for the first time. "They were shocked - confides Starni -. Partly due to the complexity of the hearing, partly due to the quantity of people present, but above all because it was the first time they had found themselves in front of the alleged killer. Their gazes never met, Spada kept his gaze lowered for the entire duration of the hearing. But in any case it is not easy". The images and contents circulated in the media also weighed heavily. "Mrs. Deanna's family members are horrified - comments the lawyer -. Also because, whether he is the author of the murders or not, even if we, having read the file, have the mathematical certainty that he is, taking selfies with the coffins or with the exhumations of the corpses is a rather particular thing".