Casepin
Back to cases

Case file

Circeo massacre

SOLVED1975San Felice Circeo, Province of Latina, Italy3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
Illustrative

Donatella Colasanti, 17, and Rosaria Lopez, 19, grew up in working-class families in Rome's Montagnola neighborhood; at the time of the crime, Colasanti was a student and Lopez worked as a bartender. In late September 1975 the two young women were introduced to Angelo Izzo, 20, and Giovanni Guido, 19, who were using assumed identities to obscure earlier sexual assaults. On 29 September, Izzo and Guido invited Colasanti and Lopez to what they described as a party at a villa in the Punta Rossa area of San Felice Circeo, on the coast roughly 100 km south of Rome. The villa, called Villa Moresca, belonged to the family of a third man, Andrea Ghira, 22.

After the group arrived at Villa Moresca on the evening of 29 September, Izzo and Guido made sexual advances toward the two women. When they refused, one of the men produced a gun and falsely claimed the group belonged to a criminal gang that had ordered the women's kidnapping. Over the following roughly 35 hours, Izzo and Guido, joined by Ghira, raped and tortured Colasanti and Lopez. Both women were drugged. Lopez was beaten and drowned in an upstairs bathtub. The men then tried to strangle Colasanti and, when she reached a telephone to call for help, struck her with an iron bar; she fell to the floor and feigned death. Believing both women dead, the three men locked Colasanti, still alive, in the trunk of a car with Lopez's body and drove toward Rome.

After stopping for dinner near Guido's home in Rome's Trieste district, the men left the car parked on Viale Pola. Still in the trunk, Colasanti began shouting and striking its walls; a night watchman heard her and alerted police shortly before 11 p.m. on 30 September. She was freed and hospitalized with severe injuries, including a fractured nose. Izzo and Guido were arrested within hours; Ghira fled and was tried in absentia. On 29 July 1976, a court convicted all three men of murder and sentenced each to life imprisonment without parole. The Carabinieri investigation, which relied heavily on Colasanti's testimony, was led by Marshal Gesualdo Simonetti. Colasanti later brought civil claims against her attackers, and several feminist associations joined the trial as civil parties.

Ghira lived as a fugitive under a false name, enlisting in the Spanish Legion in Madrid on 26 June 1976. He developed a drug dependency during his military service and was forcibly retired in 1993 due to declining health. He died in Melilla, Spain, on 2 September 1994 of a drug overdose; his body was found a week later. A 2005 DNA test meant to confirm his identity raised doubts after it emerged that the geneticist who conducted it was related to Ghira's family; a second, independent test filed in June 2016 confirmed the remains were his.

Guido's sentence was reduced to 30 years on appeal in October 1980 after he expressed repentance and paid compensation to the Lopez family; he later escaped custody twice, in Italy and while awaiting extradition in Argentina, before being returned to Italy. His sentence was commuted to community service in April 2008, and he completed it in August 2009. Izzo, while on supervised prison release, murdered 49-year-old Maria Carmela Maiorano and her 14-year-old daughter, Valentina, in Ferrazzano on 28 April 2005; he received a second life sentence for those killings in January 2007. Donatella Colasanti died of breast cancer on 30 December 2005, at age 47. In 2020, her former home was reopened as an anti-violence center.

Key facts

Victims
Rosaria Lopez, Donatella Colasanti
Date
1975
Location
San Felice Circeo, Province of Latina, Italy
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1975-09-29

    Angelo Izzo and Giovanni Guido lure Donatella Colasanti and Rosaria Lopez to Villa Moresca in San Felice Circeo; when the women refuse the men's sexual advances they are held at gunpoint and, joined by Andrea Ghira, subjected to roughly 35 hours of rape and torture.

  2. 1975-09-30

    Rosaria Lopez is beaten and drowned in a bathtub at the villa; Donatella Colasanti is beaten with an iron bar and feigns death. The three men lock Colasanti, still alive, in a car trunk with Lopez's body and drive toward Rome, where a night watchman hears her and alerts police; she is rescued and hospitalized, and Izzo and Guido are arrested within hours.

  3. 1976-06-26

    Andrea Ghira, a fugitive, enlists in the Spanish Legion in Madrid under the false name Massimo Testa de Andres.

  4. 1976-07-29

    A court convicts Izzo and Guido, and Ghira in absentia, of murder and sentences each to life imprisonment without parole.

  5. 1980-10-28

    Guido's sentence is reduced on appeal to 30 years after a declaration of repentance and compensation paid to the Lopez family.

  6. 1994-09-02

    Andrea Ghira dies in Melilla, Spain, of a drug overdose while living as a fugitive.

  7. 2005-04-28

    While on supervised prison release, Izzo murders Maria Carmela Maiorano and her 14-year-old daughter, Valentina, in Ferrazzano.

  8. 2005-12-30

    Donatella Colasanti dies of breast cancer at age 47.

  9. 2007-01-12

    Izzo is sentenced to a second term of life imprisonment for the 2005 murders of Maria Carmela and Valentina Maiorano.

  10. 2008-04-11

    Guido's sentence is commuted to community service after 14 years at Rebibbia Prison.

  11. 2009-08-25

    Guido completes his sentence, receiving an eight-year reduction under a pardon.

  12. 2016-06

    A second, independent DNA test confirms that remains exhumed in Melilla are Andrea Ghira's, resolving doubts raised about an earlier 2005 test.

  13. 2020

    Donatella Colasanti's former home is reopened as an anti-violence center.

Best coverage

No approved coverage links are attached yet.

People

  • Giovanni Guido

    CONVICTED

    Convicted of murder on 29 July 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole; sentence reduced on appeal in October 1980 to 30 years, then commuted to community service in April 2008 and completed in August 2009.

  • Gesualdo Simonetti

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Carabinieri marshal who led the investigation into the abduction, torture, and killing.

  • Angelo Izzo

    CONVICTED

    Convicted of murder on 29 July 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the killing of Rosaria Lopez and the attack on Donatella Colasanti. Convicted again on 12 January 2007 of a second, unrelated double murder committed in 2005 while on prison release.

  • Rosaria Lopez

    VICTIM

    19-year-old bartender; abducted with Donatella Colasanti on 29 September 1975, raped and tortured for roughly 35 hours, and beaten and drowned in a bathtub during the attack.

  • Andrea Ghira

    CONVICTED

    Convicted in absentia of murder on 29 July 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Fled to Spain and evaded capture under a false identity; died 2 September 1994. Identity confirmed by DNA testing in 2016 after an earlier 2005 test was disputed.

  • Donatella Colasanti

    VICTIM

    17-year-old student; abducted with Rosaria Lopez on 29 September 1975, raped and tortured for roughly 35 hours, beaten with an iron bar, and survived by feigning death; testified against her attackers. Died 30 December 2005 of breast cancer, unrelated to the attack.

Roles reflect public records and court outcomes at the time of writing — supporting citations are on file under Sources.

Places

San Felice Circeo, Province of Latina, Italy

41.2333, 13.0833

View on the map

Common questions

What happened to the victim?
Over 29-30 September 1975, three men lured two young women to a villa near San Felice Circeo, Italy, and raped and tortured them for roughly 35 hours; one victim, Rosaria Lopez, was drowned, while the other, Donatella Colasanti, survived by feigning death. All three men were convicted of murder in 1976.
Where did the massacre happen?
San Felice Circeo, Province of Latina, Italy.
Who was convicted?
Giovanni Guido (Convicted of murder on 29 July 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole; sentence reduced on appeal in October 1980 to 30 years, then commuted to community service in April 2008 and completed in August 2009.), Angelo Izzo (Convicted of murder on 29 July 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole for the killing of Rosaria Lopez and the attack on Donatella Colasanti. Convicted again on 12 January 2007 of a second, unrelated double murder committed in 2005 while on prison release.), and Andrea Ghira (Convicted in absentia of murder on 29 July 1976 and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Fled to Spain and evaded capture under a false identity; died 2 September 1994. Identity confirmed by DNA testing in 2016 after an earlier 2005 test was disputed.).
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.
More cases in Italy

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICCirceo massacreWikipedia · 2026-07-12
  2. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — repubblica.itrepubblica.it · 2026-07-12
  3. PRESSContemporaneous coverage — thecinemaholic.comthecinemaholic.com · 2026-07-12

Record history

First published
JUL 13, 2026