Investigators in the Pavia Prosecutor’s Office are poised to cross-check the genetic profiles of nearly 30 individuals to determine if male DNA isolated on gauze used to swab Chiara Poggi’s mouth represents contamination or points to “Unknown 3”. This next step sharpens the focus on Andrea Sempio, a friend of the victim’s brother accused of murder alongside an accomplice.
The move follows new DNA tests on five samples taken during Poggi’s autopsy from her palate, tongue, and oral cavity, analyzed by court-appointed geneticist Denise Albani. Authorities must first identify everyone who handled the gauze or the 26-year-old victim’s body. The list spans Carabinieri at the crime scene and autopsy room, paramedics (despite protective gear), and funeral home staff.
Prosecutors aim to meticulously compare these individuals’ DNA against the unidentified male profile found on the gauze. Expert opinions clash: some consultants describe the profile as “clear with 22 markers,” while Marzio Capra, hired by the Poggi family, calls it a minuscule, contaminated “trace” likely left during “the crime scene investigation, autopsy, transport, inspection, handling, or storage.”
As a third DNA replication test is awaited and known profiles from a bathroom mat fragment are consolidated, the probe becomes a hunt for the owner of this nameless Y chromosome. The goal is to clarify if the gauze profile is contamination—like the inadvertent DNA deposit from Ernesto Gabriele Ferrari, assistant to 2007 autopsy pathologist Marco Ballardini—or evidence of a killer. Albani has already questioned Ferrari about methodology: why non-sterile gauze was used instead of a swab, who handled it, who else was present in Vigevano’s morgue, and the condition of instruments used. This seeks to identify previously unknown persons who interacted with the body.
Defense consultant Luciano Garofano (ex-RIS commander) asserted the “Unknown 3” profile is likely a mix of Ferrari’s DNA and another’s, calling it pre-sampling contamination: “The logical explanation is there is no second man; they are chasing a ghost.” Albani informed court consultants she will perform a final test on the sample linked to Ferrari and the unknown male, using all remaining material, as it showed the “highest male concentration” among gauze tests. While many deem contamination probable, investigators rule nothing out.