Policeman killed, family lawyers: 'It's a case of relational femicide'

"We will face the appeal judgment with all the necessary commitment and attention and we will defend the first degree sentence which awarded the maximum sentence to the accused Giampiero Gualandi. We believe that the first degree reasoning is solid and very careful, but we will counter every argument of the appeal". This was stated by the lawyers Andrea Speranzoni and Lisa Baravelli, defenders of the family members of Sofia Stefani, the policewoman killed at the age of 33 in Anzola Emilia on 16 May 2024, a murder for which the former commander Giampiero Gualandi, 65, with whom the victim had a relationship, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first degree. The appeal process begins on Monday in Bologna.

"The murder of Sofia Stefani - the lawyers continue - we believe is part of a logic of power and control which, on closer inspection, merges between professional hierarchy and intimate relationship. The uniform and rank were in that contract (the contract of submission previously signed by the two, ed.) eroticised and used as tools for the defendant's self-affirmation, through the thought and placement of Sofia Stefani in a position of absolute subordination. The role of a powerful man recognized for his professional power characterized the actions of the accused. The latter, it should be remembered, often linked his emotional promises to career advancement: in fact he proposed that Sofia Stefani follow him if he obtained command of the local police, making the recognition of the relationship conditional on 'real' professional power."

"The dynamic triggered by the accused and resulting in the voluntary murder of Sofia is believed to fall within relational femicide, in which the man does not accept the loss of power and control over a woman perceived as invasive, elusive and threatening to the public and private identity. We will defend every reason of the victim to the full by giving her the voice that she no longer has and allowing her to still be present", they conclude.