The former RIS investigator in the Garlasco case: "The DNA issue is an anomaly."
For the prosecutor's consultants, Chiara Poggi's evidence on the pedals is "solid evidence": "But the null replies needed to be clarified."The genetic profile on Alberto Stasi's bicycle pedals attributed to Chiara Poggi is "solid in terms of reproducibility and reliability," and "no consultant or expert has ever questioned the quality and attribution of this profile to the victim." However, when the two repeat tests performed the day after the key test returned a null result—an "anomaly" that, in any case, was being circulated in the laboratories—"it would have been appropriate" for those conducting the biological tests "to investigate the reason for this conflicting result and, for example, proceed with further investigations."
The methodology adopted by the Carabinieri of the Parma RIS (Special Operations Unit) 19 years ago, when they were assigned to investigate the Garlasco crime, is the point made in writing by Carlo Previderè and Pierangela Grignani, consultants for the Pavia Public Prosecutor's Office, in their report filed with the new closure of the investigation into the young woman's murder . This investigation points the finger at Andrea Sempio and appears to be fueling the fires of Stasi and his defense attorneys, who are seeking a review. The crux of the matter, which has nothing to do with Sempio and on which former officers of the Carabinieri's special unit, including General Luciano Garofano, were also interviewed, concerns the counter-analysis conducted on September 20, 2007, on the biological material found on the pedals of the former Bocconi student's 'Umberto Dei' car: unlike the previous day, they did not provide any name or surname.
This issue was raised by the convicted man's consultants, Pasquale Linarello and Ugo Ricci, based on "raw data" requested from the RIS last year, along with a wealth of other material, much of which was destroyed with the final ruling. According to the two geneticists, "the finding 'presence of the victim's DNA on the pedals'—as stated in their report—would have been considered unconfirmed, analytically inconsistent, and scientifically unsuitable to form a reliable evidentiary conclusion" and therefore "should not have been produced as a definitive result and, in any case (...) entered into the trial," as one of the seven pieces of evidence of guilt. The experts appointed by the Pavia prosecutors, however, do not dispute that what was found then was Chiara's DNA: for them, the test result "should be considered valid and reliable according to the science of the time." And "no guideline or recommendation (...), even current, would have required the further repetition of the amplification" of that sample, given "the excellent quality of the profiles obtained the previous day." Then, however, following that "completely negative result," RIS captain Alberto Marino, who claimed to have repeated the tests out of "stupid overzeal," should have asked himself "the question" and understood the reasons for these "contradictory" results.
The findings were described as "an anomaly," and it cannot be ruled out that the Stasi defense consultants at the time were also aware of them, given that they "entered" the laboratories, as former RIS investigator Alessandro Coli stated in his statement, and "they carried out the activity together and double-checked the results; I sensed this." This circumstance was recalled by another former RIS investigator, Giorgio Portera, who specified that "the consultants for the Stasi defense, Fabbri (Stasi's geneticist, ed.), were also in the laboratory on an almost daily basis," and that they "took particular care in filling out" the "worksheets." Further details emerge from the recently filed documents. The "traumatic sequence" of Chiara's attack: according to the prosecutors' consultants, "the interval between the first injuries and death" would have been "no less than approximately 15-30 minutes and plausibly between 30 and 60 minutes, although it cannot be scientifically defined with greater precision."
And then the wiretaps in which Andrea's mother, a year ago, blurted out: "They called him in to take his measurements... but why didn't you take them at Stasi? (...) twenty years later he's twenty kilos heavier... and what the hell... eh yes... eh yes eh... and the only thing that's remained the same is his shoe size (...). He was a size 44 at the time and he still is now... but the rest of his body has changed." Words that resurrected the topic of the polka-dot imprint left by the killer's size 42 Frau at the crime scene, which, according to the Poggi consultants, Sempio's foot couldn't fit through because it was longer and wider.
(Unioneonline)
