A significant breakthrough has been achieved in the investigation into the bombing of journalist Sigfrido Ranucci in Rome in October. Businessman and former publisher Valter Lavitola, a figure already well known to the Italian judiciary, has been placed under investigation on suspicion of being the alleged mastermind behind the attack.
Carabinieri from the Rome and Frascati Investigative Units searched Lavitola's residence under a warrant issued by magistrates of the Rome District Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA), confiscating his smartphone and personal computer. The investigators will now conduct an analysis of the computer equipment in an effort to determine the motive, which is purely confidential. The developments come just days after police handcuffed four people last Tuesday. According to Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi and prosecutors Carlo Villani and Edoardo De Santis, the four gang members are thought to be the true perpetrators of the crime. Lavitola and the alleged perpetrators face charges including joint possession, carrying in a public place and use of an explosive device, as well as making threats and criminal damage, all aggravated by the alleged use of mafia methods.