Cesare Serviatti

Identification

• Name: Cesare Serviatti
• Gender: M
• Race: W
• Type: N

Status

Cesare Serviatti was executed by firing-squad at the Chiara Vecchia shooting range in Sarzana on October 13, 1933.

Timeline

• 1928 — Paolina Gorietti was not yet identified in the case record as a victim at this point; the case chronology includes 1928 within the range of events.
• 3 November 1930 — The body of a beheaded woman, Bice Margarucci, had been pulled out of the sea at Santa Marinella.
• 30 October 1930 — Cesare Serviatti strangled Bice in an apartment in Via Ricasoli in Rome; the body had been cut into pieces and thrown in the Tiber near the Isola Tiberina.
• 16 November 1932 — A suitcase was found on the train from La Spezia to Naples station containing the dismembered body of a woman; a second suitcase containing the rest of the body was found on the La Spezia–Rome train.
• 13 October 1933 — Cesare Serviatti was executed at 6.24 am by firing-squad at the Chiara Vecchia shooting range in Sarzana.

The victims

• Bice Margarucci
• Pasqua Bartolini Tiraboschi
• Paolina Gorietti

The offence

Cesare Serviatti killed and mutilated victims whose remains were later found in suitcases on train routes between La Spezia, Rome, and Naples.

The case described:

• The body of a woman was dismembered.
• A beheaded woman, identified as Bice Margarucci, had been pulled out of the sea at Santa Marinella (3 November 1930).
• Cesare Serviatti strangled Bice on 30 October 1930 in an apartment on Via Ricasoli in Rome, cut the body into pieces, and threw it in the Tiber near the Isola Tiberina.
• For Paolina Gorietti, the prosecution charged murder, mutilation and concealment of the body.

Investigation

• The inquiry began in La Spezia, after a young boy found a kitchen knife near the railway station with the blade covered in blood.
• The investigation was assigned to the Rome Police Headquarters and was led by Superintendent Musco, who had investigated a similar case two years earlier involving a beheaded woman.
• Investigators attempted to trace all women missing around Italy and used all possible means to identify the body in the suitcases.

Recognition by a witness

A woman recognized the mutilated body:

• It was her best friend, Paolina Gorietti.
• Paolina Gorietti had told her before disappearing mysteriously about a meeting with a man who claimed to be a retired marshal, disabled in service, and had convinced her to go with him to La Spezia where they would get married.
• The man was Cesare Serviatti.

Arrest and interrogation

• Cesare Serviatti was born in Rome on 24 November 1880.
• He was described as having many jobs in his stormy past, including having been a butcher and a nurse at a hospital, where he had been sacked for maltreating patients.
• Police caught Cesare Serviatti at his home in Via Principe Amedeo, Rome.
• When charged with the murders, he denied responsibility.
• After further interrogation, he admitted his guilt.

Investigation links and modus operandi

Cesare Serviatti was linked to the case of the woman found at Santa Marinella by contacting her through a marriage advertisement in a newspaper. The record described this as the ploy he used to know wealthy middle-aged women looking for a husband.

Confession and further admissions

• After further interrogation, Cesare Serviatti confessed.
• He confessed to five other murders, but refused to reveal the names of the victims.
• Only one of the five other victims was identified: Pasqua Bartolini Tiraboschi, who had disappeared in 1928 and was described as probably the first of his many victims.

Trial

• Cesare Serviatti was charged with three murders.
• He was committed for summary trial.
• The prosecution described him as the worst kind of criminal.

Charges and sentencing

The prosecution and court outcome included:

• Life imprisonment for the murders of Pasqua Bartolini Tiraboschi and Bice Margarucci.
• Death penalty for the murder, mutilation and concealment of the body of Paolina Gorietti.

Outcome

• Cesare Serviatti was executed at 6.24 am on 13 October 1933 by firing-squad at the Chiara Vecchia shooting range in Sarzana.