The Yara Gambirasio Case is probably one of the most talked-about cases in Italy this century. Its Indian equivalent must be Aarushi Talwar and Hemraj’s murder. Both took the media by storm, and it created a lot of discourse in the public as well. There were also a lot of conspiracy theories floating around about who could have been the murderer. The five-part documentary series has only one antagonist, Massimo Guiseppe Bossetti. The show begins in the year 2014, on June 16th, when Massimo was seen running away from the cops. After a brief chase, the man was caught. Massimo is a young father who worked in the construction business for many years. He was married to Marita Comi and had two children with her.
The Bergamo County police had been searching for the culprit for four years, and after several dead ends, they finally ended up with Massimo, whose DNA was found on Yara’s intimate garments. It all began with Yara’s body being discovered a few months after she had disappeared. It was obvious after a point that Yara might no longer be alive after all. The police found her mortal remains on a stretch of grasslands near a nightclub. The body was discovered by a man who was trying out his toy plane. The most shocking part about the discovery of Yara’s dead body was that the police claimed to have searched the area around the nightclub when another murder was reported from the same place. The police had to find out who the murderer was because, since the body was found months later, the killer could be anywhere at this point. It was far-fetched of them to think the killer would not have left the country after all to avoid getting arrested.
The DNA found on the girl’s intimate garments had to be matched with someone. The police made one mistake, which was to mistake an immigrant’s body for Yara’s. This was also followed by them wrongfully arresting a Moroccan immigrant, and they were nowhere near finding out who the culprit could be. The only solution at hand was to conduct a large-scale DNA testing program in the hope of getting it matched with any man and possibly arresting the person. This was again a vague idea because DNA evidence is tricky, as stated by Massimo’s lawyers in the latter part of the documentary. A lot of uncomfortable truths had come out over the course of the mass testing. The DNA that was found on the clothes was termed ‘suspect no. 1’, as the police were sure the person it would match would be the killer.
As the roller coaster ride to find the killer went on for three years after finding Yara’s body, the DNA initially partially matched that of one of the children of Giuseppe Guerinoni, an elderly man who had passed away a few years ago. Over the years, the connection was found with Massimo’s mother too, as the DNA matched with her as well. After three years, the police and prosecution arrested Massimo, who worked as a construction worker. Since Yara’s father was also in the construction business, fragments of cement and lime found on his body helped the police pin the crime on him.
Massimo Bossetti spoke in the documentary as well, stood his ground, and never moved away from his stance that he was innocent. His wife, Marita Comi, stood by his side even though she’d spoken to him multiple times, requesting that he confess if he had killed Yara. Massimo and his van were seen circling the gym multiple times just before Yara disappeared. The van did belong to Massimo, but the footage showed no image of him driving it. He had claimed to have driven around the place but still said he was innocent, and he had no animosity towards Yara’s father. Massimo hired the right kind of lawyer who was still fighting for his cause, claiming the man was innocent after all.
Massimo and his lawyer challenged the DNA test and claimed there had to be some contamination that may have led to this situation. Massimo, right from the start, claimed innocence and said he had no role to play in Yara’s death. All the police had was circumstantial evidence, as the prosecution never allowed the defense to go through another DNA test by stating there was no sample left from Yara’s clothes to carry out another test. Massimo was brought to tears multiple times during the documentary series, and he has been singing the same song since he was arrested. It was essential for us to hear the story from his end as well. Massimo claimed to have been put through torture while in prison and said he was forced to sign the confession. The defense lawyer, Claudio Salvagni, went from door to door and fought hard to make sure Massimo was given the verdict of not guilty, but they could not succeed.
Claudio’s team fought tooth and nail for Massimo and wanted to redo the DNA test, but the judge of the Bergamo Court gave him a life sentence. As Massimo’s world came crashing down soon after the verdict, there was no end to people hurling abuses at him, even though he and his team of lawyers stood their ground. Massimo had been put through enough ordeal ever since his arrest, and adding to his agony was the life sentence and the fact he would not be able to meet his children ever. This documentary picked up the right kind of battle by letting Massimo convey his side of the story from prison. There were multiple attempts made by his defense to get him acquitted of the charges placed by the prosecution, which, according to them, were farcical and circumstantial. As stated in the end credits, his wife’s alibi was never taken into consideration all this while. She was forced to work as a cleaner to financially provide for her family. It could be assumed the family may have faced ostracization after the arrest of Massimo. Massimo was still fighting, and he hoped to get out to be with his family and start afresh.