Murder on lovers lane

The Monster of Florence murdered 14 young lovers and terrorized a city. He eluded capture for 30 years.  Now, authors Mario Spezi and Douglas Preston had arrived unannounced at the home of "Carlo," a truck driver they suspected might be Italy's most notorious serial killer.

Doug Preston: He invited us in with great charm and welcome.  He was a very charismatic individual. With big rippling muscles.  And tattoos.  And scars on his body.
Stone Phillips: And how old?
Doug Preston: Mid-40s. He seated us at his kitchen table.  He offered us a glass of a special type of Sardinian liquor.
Mario Spezi: He was a very intelligent man. And he joked with us.
Preston: And we proceeded to ask him questions.  Very gently at first. General questions. And finally the questions got more and more pointed.

He denied ever having the monster's gun.  But he did say he owned a knife.

Doug Preston: A scuba knife.  That that was his knife of choice.
Stone Phillips: The same kind of knife with a notch that had been used in the killings?
Doug Preston: In the killings. 

Then Spezi asked the biggest question of all.

Mario Spezi: "So you are not the Monster of Florence?"
Stone Phillips: You asked him outright?
Mario Spezi: I asked him directly.  And -- he [said] "I'm sorry, I can't let you do this scoop.”
Stone Phillips: "I can't let you do this scoop."
Doug Preston: And then he said something very vulgar in Italian.
Stone Phillips: The gist of it being what?
Doug Preston: Well, the gist of it was “I like my women living when I have sex with them.”

Then the writers got up to leave.

Mario Spezi: He said, "Ah, Spezi, I am forget something. I never joke."
Doug Preston: “And I never kid around."
Stone Phillips: What do you take that to mean?
Doug Preston: Well, it was a threat. In Italian it's even more of a threat than it is in English. 
Stone Phillips: As you left his home after speaking to him, what did you think?
Mario Spezi: Well. Me and Doug we were silent. We enter our car. And then almost the same time, we say it's him.

If it was him -- if Carlo was the monster -- it was a stunning moment. It would make a great ending to their book on the monster case.  But at the same time, another author was also at work on that other theory of the crimes.

Giuttari: I believe I have done my duty, seriously and for many years. I wanted to make the recent developments official in my book so that this story is not forgotten.

Florence police inspector Michele Giuttari was writing his own book, and who could blame him? Books on the monster case are big sellers in Italy. Giuttari thought he had compelling evidence that a satanic cult was behind the monster killings, such as that oddly shaped stone found at one of the murder scenes.

Giuttari: [in Italian] A uniquely shaped rock was found in the form of a truncated pyramid, to which the experts on satanism granted importance.

Florence was intrigued.  Mario Spezi was amused.

Spezi: I called some friends of mine.  And in an afternoon, I find -- I found seven.
Stone Phillips: Seven of these?
Mario Spezi: Yes, it's a common object.

What was this strangely carved stone?

Preston: An antique Tuscan doorstop.  You can find them in antique stores all over Tuscany.

The foundation of the satanic cult theory was a doorstop.  Spezi soon published his findings in the newspaper.

Preston: And he ridiculed Giuttari.  Ridiculed him.

It was a classic spat between two writers, except that one of the writers was also a cop.

Preston: The police arrived at Spezi's apartment.  Six o'clock in the morning. Turned the place upside-down.  And -- then behind Spezi's door, they found the doorstop.  Later in the report they made they said that now they had evidence that connected Spezi directly to the scene of one of the crimes and to the satanic sect.

It seemed incredible.  But it was no joke.

Doug Preston: Here's a guy who knows everything.  He's followed the case obsessively.
Stone Phillips: And he had the hexagonal stone.
Doug Preston: And he had the hexagonal stone.  

Mario Spezi, a reporter, also became a suspect.

Stone Phillips: So you are under investigation?
Mario Spezi: Yes.
Stone Phillips: For murder.
Mario Spezi: For murder.

Just when you think this case couldn't get any stranger, there’s another twist. An ex-convict came to Spezi, and in return for a few euros he gave him a white hot tip.

The source claimed that Carlo had taken him to one of his hideaways on the grounds of this centuries-old villa, and what he'd seen inside might crack the monster case once and for all.

Mario Spezi: He tell me that he saw in this house the gun and in a little armoire, six metallic boxes. 

The gun, and in an armoire, six boxes – which matches the number of women who'd been mutilated by the monster. It was tantalizing, and if true it was proof that Carlo was the killer.

Stone Phillips: Did you believe it?
Mario Spezi: Well, I -- yes.
Doug Preston: Well, Spezi just about had a heart attack.  So he's telling me this and I said, "Mario, this sounds too good to be true." 

Preston was intrigued enough, however, that he asked Spezi to take him to the villa.

Stone Phillips: And so Mario's thinking, finally this is the place.
Preston: Exactly.

Preston says they didn't get a chance to investigate.

Preston: Well, we did a very quick little walk around but it was pouring rain and we didn't do anything else. We were there for no more than 10 to 15 minutes.

They found no answers that day, just more trouble than they ever imagined possible.

Preston: I was thinking towards the end of this thing, I'm never going to see my wife and children again.

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