Sextus Roscius of Ameria: The Parricide Trial That Launched Cicero
Cicero’s defense exposed a scheme built on proscription lists and a freedman’s influence. According to Cicero, in September of 81 BC a wealthy landowner from … Read more
Italy Crime News and Criminal Investigations
True Crime in Italy. Get the latest on crime and justice in Italy.
Stay updated on the dark and mysterious side of Italy with the Italy Crime News and Criminal Investigations category on WeirdItaly.com. Get the latest news on peculiar cases, notorious criminals, and bizarre criminal investigations that have captured the nation’s attention. Delve into the complex world of Italy’s criminal underbelly and uncover the enigmatic stories that lie beneath the surface.
A Murder Trial in Ancient Rome: The Poison Ring of 331 BC
How a slave’s testimony uncovered the first criminal inquiry into poisoning in Roman history According to Livy, in the year 331 BC the city of … Read more
A Murder in Ancient Rome: The Case of Pedanius Secundus and the Slaughter of His Household
The praefectus urbi’s murder reopened a debate the empire had avoided for generations According to Tacitus, in the year 61 AD the city of Rome … Read more
The Fake Ancient Theater in Italy That Fooled Ticket Buyers for a Decade
Marketed as a Neolithic and Roman find, the site was in fact assembled with concrete and grouted stone blocks. A man in northern Italy has … Read more
A Chronicle of the Homemade Tank that Invaded Piazza San Marco in 1997
Technical disruption and agricultural engineering of an improvised Venetian army In the belfry of St Mark’s Campanile, a hundred meters above the lagoon, the air … Read more
Strategy of Tension in Cold War Italy
Political Violence, State Secrecy, and the Anatomy of Destabilization The expression “strategy of tension” refers to a coordinated series of political, military, and clandestine operations, … Read more
Junio Valerio Borghese and the Failed 1970 Italian Coup
The Golpe Borghese: The Judicial Fallout from Italy’s Infamous Coup Attempt The Golpe Borghese, also known as the Golpe dei forestali or Golpe dell’Immacolata, and … Read more
The Lives of the Carusi, the Slave Miners of Sicily
Child Slavery at the Floristella Grottacalda mines in Sicily. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the sulfur mines of Floristella and Grottacalda, located in … Read more
Vincenzo Peruggia: The Man Who Walked Out with the Mona Lisa
The 1911 Louvre Heist That Made the Mona Lisa World-Famous On a quiet Monday morning in August 1911, Italian house painter Vincenzo Peruggia arrived at … Read more
Franca Viola’s Defiance Against Marriage by Coercion in 1960s Italy
How Franca Viola’s Courage Changed Women’s Rights in Italy Franca Viola’s bravery led to the abolishment of the law that once bound women to their … Read more
Giulia Tofana: The Infamous “Queen of Poisons” in 17th Century Italy
Trapped in Marriage, Freed by Poison: The Twisted Tale of Giulia Tofana’s Venomous Enterprise The chilling tale of Giulia Tofana, the 17th century Italian poisoner … Read more
The Honor Killing of Laura Lanza in 16th-century Sicily
A woman of legend, shrouded in mystery, and a touch of the macabre: Laura Lanza, Baroness of Carini. A Sicilian noblewoman whose life was as … Read more
Fascism and Homophobia: The San Domino Camp for Exiled Homosexuals
San Donato’s Hidden History: The Exile of Homosexuals under Mussolini Between 1936 and 1940, during Benito Mussolini’s fascist regime, about 300 homosexual men were deported … Read more
How Hundreds Fell for Italy’s “Sovereign State of Antarctic St. George”
What Made Hundreds Believe in a Fictional State? The “Sovrano Stato Antartico di San Giorgio”—the Sovereign State of Antarctic St. George—was a phantom nation that … Read more
The Story of the Italian Police Unit who Became Vegetarian
After investigating the atrocious conditions of the illegal slaughterhouses in Sicily, a police unit became vegetarian. In 2016, the story of a police unit from … Read more