The Monster Case News Today

>> for murder. >> and just when you think this case couldnt get any stranger, another twist. an ex-con came to spezi and in return for a few euros 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 had seen inside might crack the monster case once and for all. >> he told me that he saw in his house the gun and in a little armoire six metallic boxes. >> the gun, and in an armoire, six boxes matching...

What do you think of this theory? >> its completely crazy. its completely crazy. >> spezi developed his own very different theory based on something he says he was told by a high-ranking member of the carabinieri, the italian federal police. >> they tell me to a journalist who is writing about the monster, they told this new story very interesting. >> the carabinieri had withdrawn from the case years before, reportedly outraged at the way it was being managed by local investigators. >> but obses...

>> so you are not the monster of florence? >> you asked him outright? >> i asked him directly. i asked him, mario, im sorry. i cant let you do this scoop. >> i cant let you do this scoop. >> then he said something very vulgar in italian. >> the gist of it being what? >> the gist of it, i like my women living when i have sex with them. >> then the writers got up to leave. >> he said, ah, spezi, i forgot something. >> i never joke. >> and i never kid around. >> what did you take that to mean? >> w...

The victim? >> never, never. he never had sexual -- >> activity. >> -- activity with the victims, never. >> spezi had also seen that fbi profile of the monster and thought it just didnt match pacciani at all. the profile said the killer was probably sexually dysfunctional. pacciani was not. probably lived alone or with an older relative. pacciani had a wife and children. and was probably in his 20s at the time of the first murder. pacciani had been almost 50. >> you know, from the theory of the ...

So here we are, more than 20 years after the end of a killing spree that left 14 young people dead. the murder weapon has never been found. theres no definitive proof of a sardinian connection, let alone of a satanic cult. the guy who tipped spezi about the villa and iron boxes was a con man out to make a few bucks and the endless investigation has now turned into a monster itself eating more of its own. the judge who interrogated doug preston is under investigation for abuse of his office. so i...

Special type of sardinian liquor. >> he was a very intelligent man, and he joked with us. >> and we proceeded to ask him questions, very gently at first. questions about the case, you know, general questions. and, finally, the questions got more and more pointed until it was obvious to him and to us that we were accusing him of being the monster of florence. he never lost his smile. he never lost his charm. he never said wait a minute, what are you accusing me of? how dare you? no, he was so cha...

Monster committed a crime that hannibal lecter would find hard to top. the young lovers this time were tourists from france, camping in the hills south of florence. as they made love in their tent, the monster shot the woman in the face, killing her instantly. the man was shot several times, but somehow managed to burst from the tent. >> heres someone whos running for his life, and yet the killer was actually able to catch him, reach up behind him, cut his throat. >> the killer then returned to ...

Looking closer and closer at the carabinieri suspect. by the time he met preston in 2000, he had a convincing case. >> the more we looked at it, the more we eliminated other possible suspects, the more it seemed likely that he was the person, that he was the monster of florence. >> they began to refer to him by a pseudonym, carlo, and agreed he would be the focus of their book. they decided they had to talk to him. >> we went to his house at 9:30 at night, rang his doorbell. got buzzed up, no pr...

Shocked him. >> the judge nodded to the stenographer, she pressed the button on her computer and heres my voice. here i am talking to mario spezi. >> giuttari and his men had been tapping spezis phone, and even broken into his car, planting bugs there, too. they recorded him and preston discussing the case. and on tape, spezi said something that struck the judge as highly suspicious. we did it, we did it all. >> we did it. we did it. yes. >> spezi says what he meant was that he had turned all hi...

Homosexual couple by mistake. >> police hit the sardinian gang again, arresting two more of its members. florentines hoped the terrifying case had finally been solved. but then in july 1984 came the headline everyone dreaded, "il mostro e tornato," the monster has returned. the victims were young lovers parked in the country north of florence, both shot to death with that same beretta .22, the woman, just 18, mutilated. but this time it was worse. >> in this case, the monster had done more than ...