The trial for the Castel d'Azzano massacre opened today, Monday 26 October, before the Court of Assizes of Verona, in which on 14 October 2025 three carabinieri died when they were overwhelmed by the explosion of a farmhouse during an intervention by the police.
In the dock are the brothers Franco, Dino and Maria Luisa Ramponi, aged 66, 64 and 60 respectively, accused of conspiracy to commit a massacre, possession of explosive material and resisting a public official. Judge Raffaele Ferraro presides over the Court, while the prosecution is represented by the public prosecutor Elvira Vitulli. The three brothers are present in the courtroom next to their respective defenders who first asked for a psychiatric evaluation, a request rejected by the judges after an hour and a half of deliberation. The president admitted the RAI and Iene cameras into the courtroom, but the three Ramponi brothers, through their lawyers, made it known that they did not want to be filmed.
It promises to be a long and complex process. There are approximately 300 witnesses indicated in the lists filed by the prosecution, the defense and the civil parties. It will be up to the Court to decide which ones to admit. But the first issue to be resolved could be that of the psychological conditions of the accused, with the defenders intending to ask for new checks on their capacity to understand and want and to participate in the trial.
The tragedy dates back to 3 in the morning on 14 October 2025, when carabinieri, policemen and firefighters intervened in the farmhouse in via San Martino, in Castel d'Azzano, just outside Verona. The building was inhabited by three brothers, farmers and breeders who had long opposed the loss of the property, which was foreclosed following a debt issue.
The operation was ordered by the Prosecutor's Office after the images taken by a drone documented the presence of Molotov cocktails on the roof. It was a search aimed at finding incendiary devices, preliminary to a subsequent clearance. But the farmhouse had been saturated with gas and, when the men of the special departments entered the building, a very violent explosion caused the collapse of a large part of the structure.
The lieutenant Marco Piffari, 56 years old, the chief brigadier Valerio Daprà, also 56 years old, and the selected carabiniere Davide Bernardello, 36 years old, died. Over twenty people were injured including soldiers, agents, firefighters and the occupants of the farmhouse themselves.
According to the reconstruction of the Prosecutor's Office, it was Maria Luisa Ramponi who triggered the explosion on the upper floor, while the two brothers were outside. However, the investigations attributed a role to all three in the preparation of the plan. A reconstruction contested by the defense, who will have to deal with the technical investigations and testimonies collected by the investigators.
It was not the first time that the Ramponi brothers threatened extreme actions to prevent them from leaving the house. Already in October and November 2024, during previous attempts to access the property, they had opened gas cylinders and threatened to blow themselves up. Franco and Maria Luisa had also climbed onto the roof with fuel, forcing the police to start negotiations to avoid dramatic consequences.
Precisely these behaviors and the psychological conditions of the three defendants will be at the center of the defense strategy. The judge of the preliminary hearing Beatrice Marini had rejected, last September 17, the requests for expert assessments made by the lawyers. But the defense intends to raise the issue again before the Court of Assizes. A psychiatric assessment could impact the assessment of the imputability and, therefore, the criminal responsibility of the three brothers, who risk life imprisonment. The investigations should also clarify the possible capacity of the accused to consciously face the trial.
According to what was reported by the local broadcaster Telenuovo, on 22 October the lawyer Enrico Bastianello, defender of Dino Ramponi, announced the appointment of the criminologist Roberta Bruzzone as defense consultant.
A question that has accompanied the story since the day of the tragedy also weighs on the trial: could the explosion have been avoided? The Venice Public Prosecutor's Office has initiated disciplinary proceedings against three officers of the Carabinieri who had responsibility for organizing the operation: Colonel Claudio Papagno, Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Sframeli and Captain Vincenzo Spataro. At the center of the complaints are alleged negligence in the planning and conduct of the blitz, including the decision to continue the intervention despite warning signs, including the presence of gas in the building. The proceedings, distinct from the criminal one against the Ramponi, will have their first hearing on 30 October before the disciplinary commission of the Court of Appeal of Venice. The family members of Lieutenant Marco Piffari had also requested that any responsibilities in the organization of the intervention be ascertained, through a complaint.
