PARMA – The defendant in a double infanticide trial, 22-year-old Chiara Petrolini, asked to leave the courtroom at the Court of Assizes in Parma on Tuesday as prosecutors showed a photo of her deceased newborn son, taken by first responders.
The request was made by her defense lawyer, Nicola Tria, shortly after the testimony began from the first officer on the scene, Marshal Carlo Salvatore Perri. Petrolini, who has been under house arrest for approximately a year, left the proceedings.
She later returned for the formal appointment of court-appointed psychiatric experts, Marina Carla Verga and Laura Ghiringhelli, but subsequently exited the hearing for good on the advice of her counsel, returning to her home under house arrest. Her father, who was present in the public gallery, accompanied her.
The experts, assisted by consultants for the prosecution and defense, are tasked with evaluating Petrolini. Their assessment will focus on her mental capacity at the time of the alleged crimes, and, if she is found to have been incapable, her current social dangerousness. She is accused of killing her two newborn sons shortly after giving birth; both children were conceived with her ex-boyfriend, Samuel Granelli.
The court heard that no one—including her family, friends, or then-boyfriend—was aware of either pregnancy, which occurred about a year and a half apart. The psychiatric evaluation is scheduled to begin on September 25th, with the experts given a 90-day deadline to report their findings. They are scheduled to testify on February 2, 2026.
The graphic nature of the evidence also proved too much for Samuel Granelli, the father of the infants, who exited the courtroom with a visibly strained expression during the testimony of Lt. Col. Domenico Sacchetti. The Carabinieri investigator was recounting the discovery of the infant’s body on August 9, 2024. In previous months, Granelli had formally recognized both children, naming them Angelo Federico and Domenico Matteo and giving them his surname. He and Petrolini participated in the official registration of their birth and death, and the infants were buried in a private ceremony last March.
In emotional testimony, Marshal Perri, who was among the first to arrive at the Petrolini family home, described finding one of the infants. “I saw this little body,” he stated, addressing prosecutor Francesca Arienti, “and I tell you, it was difficult. Being a father myself, I was not well in that moment.”
Lt. Col. Sacchetti provided further context, testifying that in the initial phase of the investigation, “everyone excluded in the most categorical way possible that Chiara Petrolini could be pregnant.” Her father allegedly told investigators his daughter had recently had her menstrual cycle and he could not explain the situation. Her mother also reported seeing what she believed was menstrual blood. Petrolini herself initially confirmed this account over the phone.
Investigators later presented photos in court showing Petrolini at a concert and a party just weeks before giving birth. Sacchetti noted that her friends and acquaintances described a lifestyle incompatible with pregnancy, including the consumption of alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana.
The investigation turned on environmental wiretaps from August 2024, in which Petrolini was heard telling her parents, “No one knows anything, I did everything by myself.” Sacchetti stated that after an initial denial, she admitted to being the mother of the child but claimed he was stillborn. She described the birth by saying, “I pushed and pushed and that’s it, he came out.”
The investigator described her as seeming “like a disoriented girl,” who said, “I didn’t know what to do, I didn’t know how to tell you, I was scared, no one knew anything.” She asserted that Granelli, the father, was also completely unaware.
When informed by Carabinieri that he was the father of the deceased infant found in the garden, Granelli reacted with disbelief. In a conversation with a friend on August 20, 2024, he said, “This is all madness, I don’t believe it, really.” Sacchetti testified that Granelli expressed utter incredulity and said he felt completely removed from the events, with no explanation for what had happened.