Preliminary investigations judge Daniela Garlaschelli today appointed fingerprint expert Domenico Marchigiani to analyze trash found in the Poggi home after the murder. His task includes comparing fingerprints on acetate sheets collected at the time against a long list of individuals, including those from the Garlasco cottage post-homicide.
The evidentiary hearing will focus dactyloscopically on this trash and the historic acetate sheets. Defense lawyers for Andrea Sempio, now under investigation in the reopened 2007 Chiara Poggi murder case, opposed the trash examination. Sempio’s attorney, Angela Taccia, argued that without proof of lawful seizure, genetic testing should also be invalid. She stated genetic results already clear Sempio, suggesting the judge is pursuing all possible tests out of caution.
Prosecutors rejected including “Trace 33” from the victim’s wall in the hearing. Investigators previously attributed this print to Sempio, the current suspect, while Chiara’s then-boyfriend, Alberto Stasi, is serving a definitive 16-year sentence. Stasi’s lawyer, Giada Bocellari, reported Sempio’s defense strongly opposed extending the hearing to compare prints on adhesive lifts with others. The Poggi family lawyers also objected, having sought inclusion of Trace 33 – which differs as it falls outside the original scope of the genetic-focused hearing.
Sempio’s defense submitted a report asserting Trace 33 “does not belong to Andrea Sempio” and “contains no blood,” his lawyer Taccia stated. The print allegedly lacks sufficient ridge detail for attribution, and Sempio maintains his innocence. Despite requests from the Poggi family lawyers, Trace 33 remains excluded, with both Sempio’s defense and prosecutors opposing its admission.
The core objectives of the hearing involve finding and comparing any fingerprints on the 18-year-old trash items, like tea, cereal, and yogurt packaging. Pavia prosecutors requested this fingerprint extension after initial checks suggested a possible print on an iced tea carton. Previous tests on these items found only DNA from Stasi and Poggi, yielding nothing new against Sempio.
Genetic analysis by expert Denise Albani is set to resume in early August. Initial tests detected only one male genetic trace on gauze used to collect biological material from Poggi’s mouth. Prosecutors are now working to determine if “Unknown 3” is contamination, comparing it against dozens of individuals, including mortuary staff and Sempio’s friends. Recent participants in forensic operations have been ruled out as contamination sources.
The hearing’s central element remains the analysis of two genetic profiles found under the 26-year-old victim’s fingernails, one of which prosecutors allege belongs to Sempio.