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Kidnapping and murder of Aldo Moro

SOLVED1978Via Michelangelo Caetani, Rome, Italy3 SOURCESUPDATED JUL 2026
File:Aldo Moro br.jpg
File:Aldo Moro br.jpg — Credit: a member of the Red Brigades · Public domain

On the morning of 16 March 1978, gunmen from the Red Brigades (Brigate Rosse), a far-left militant group, ambushed the car of Aldo Moro, a former Italian prime minister and then-president of the Christian Democracy party, in via Fani, a street in Rome. As Moro's Fiat 130 and its escort car entered the street, the attackers blocked both vehicles and opened fire, killing all five of Moro's bodyguards: Carabinieri Domenico Ricci and Oreste Leonardi, and policemen Francesco Zizzi, Giulio Rivera, and Raffaele Iozzino. Ricci and Leonardi, in the lead car, were killed first; Iozzino returned fire twice before he was shot and killed; Zizzi died in a hospital a few hours later. Moro was forced into a getaway car and taken into captivity. The Red Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack in a phone call to the ANSA news agency.

Moro was held for 54 days. The exact location of his imprisonment is disputed: trial reconstructions pointed to an apartment on via Camillo Montalcini in Rome, while Moro's brother and other researchers later argued, citing sand and vegetation traces found on Moro's body and in the car where he was found, that he may have been held near a seaside location instead. During captivity, Moro wrote 86 letters to Christian Democracy colleagues, his family, and Pope Paul VI, appealing for a negotiated release; some letters reached their recipients, while others surfaced only years later in a Red Brigades apartment. The Red Brigades demanded a prisoner exchange. Italian political leaders divided between a hardline faction, backed by most of the Christian Democracy and the Italian Communist Party, that rejected any negotiation, and a minority faction that favored it. On 22 April 1978, Pope Paul VI publicly appealed for Moro's release without preconditions, a stance Moro reportedly resented as evidence he had been abandoned by the Vatican.

On 9 May 1978, after a summary trial staged by the group, Moro was shot and killed. Red Brigades member Mario Moretti stated publicly in 1993 that he personally fired the fatal shots, using a Walther PPK pistol and then, after it jammed, a Skorpion vz. 61 submachine gun; a second member, identified only as Maccari, was later revealed to have taken part. Moro's body was found the same day in the boot of a Renault 4 parked in via Michelangelo Caetani, in Rome's historic centre, near the national offices of both the Christian Democracy and the Italian Communist Party.

Investigations led to five trials in Rome's Court of Assizes. On 23 January 1983, an Italian court sentenced 32 Red Brigades members to life imprisonment for their roles in the kidnapping and murder. Separately, philosopher Antonio Negri was arrested on 7 April 1979 and charged with leading the Red Brigades and masterminding the operation; he was exonerated of the kidnapping about a year later after no link to the group was established, and most charges against him, including seventeen murders, were dropped for lack of evidence within months of his arrest. Many details of the case remain disputed. Italian judicial inquiries have examined a range of conspiracy theories involving Italian and foreign intelligence services and dismissed them for lack of evidence, while acknowledging that Moro had powerful political enemies and that Italian police made documented failures during the search for him.

Key facts

Victims
Oreste Leonardi, Aldo Moro, Giulio Rivera, Francesco Zizzi, Raffaele Iozzino, Domenico Ricci
Date
1978
Location
Via Michelangelo Caetani, Rome, Italy
Case status
solved

Case timeline

  1. 1978-03-16

    Red Brigades gunmen ambushed Aldo Moro's car in via Fani, Rome, killing his five bodyguards (Domenico Ricci, Oreste Leonardi, Francesco Zizzi, Giulio Rivera, and Raffaele Iozzino) and kidnapping Moro.

  2. 1978-04-22

    Pope Paul VI publicly appealed for the Red Brigades to release Moro without preconditions.

  3. 1978-05-09

    Moro was shot and killed after 54 days in captivity; his body was found in the boot of a car in via Michelangelo Caetani, Rome.

  4. 1979-04-07

    Philosopher Antonio Negri was arrested and charged with leading the Red Brigades and masterminding the kidnapping and murder of Moro.

  5. 1981

    Red Brigades member Mario Moretti, a fugitive since 1972, was arrested.

  6. 1983-01-23

    An Italian court sentenced 32 Red Brigades members to life imprisonment for the kidnapping and murder of Moro.

  7. 1993

    Mario Moretti stated publicly that he had personally shot and killed Moro.

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People

  • Oreste Leonardi

    VICTIM

    Carabinieri marshal and head of Moro's bodyguard detail; killed at the scene alongside Domenico Ricci in the via Fani ambush.

  • Aldo Moro

    VICTIM

    Former Italian prime minister and then-president of the Christian Democracy party; kidnapped in the via Fani ambush on 16 March 1978 and shot and killed by the Red Brigades on 9 May 1978 after 54 days in captivity.

  • Maccari

    CHARGED

    Red Brigades member later revealed to be the fourth person present at Moro's killing; in later years admitted his role and confirmed that Moretti fired the fatal shots. The source gives no first name, arrest date, or individual court verdict for him.

  • Mario Moretti

    CHARGED

    Red Brigades member and fugitive since 1972, arrested in 1981; stated publicly in 1993 that he personally shot and killed Moro. The source describes his arrest and admission but does not state an individual court verdict for him; it states only that 32 Red Brigades members were collectively sentenced to life imprisonment in 1983.

  • Giulio Rivera

    VICTIM

    Policeman in Moro's escort; killed at the scene in the via Fani ambush.

  • Francesco Zizzi

    VICTIM

    Policeman in Moro's escort; wounded in the via Fani ambush and died in a hospital a few hours later.

  • Raffaele Iozzino

    VICTIM

    Policeman in Moro's escort; returned fire twice before being shot and killed at the scene in the via Fani ambush.

  • Antonio Negri

    EXONERATED

    Operaismo philosopher arrested on 7 April 1979 and charged with leading the Red Brigades and masterminding the kidnapping and murder of Moro; exonerated of the kidnapping about a year later after no link to the Red Brigades was established, with most charges against him dropped for lack of evidence.

  • Domenico Ricci

    VICTIM

    Carabiniere who drove Moro's car; killed at the scene in the opening moments of the via Fani ambush.

  • Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa

    LAW ENFORCEMENT

    Carabinieri general who at the time coordinated Italy's fight against terrorism; discovered previously unknown copies of Moro's letters in a Red Brigades apartment in via Monte Nevoso, Milan.

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

Archival records

  • File:Aldo Moro br.jpg

    portrait victim

    File:Aldo Moro br.jpg

    Credit: a member of the Red Brigades · Public domain · Source

Places

Via Michelangelo Caetani, Rome, Italy

41.8943, 12.4784

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Common questions

What happened to Aldo?
On 16 March 1978, Red Brigades gunmen ambushed former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro's car in Rome, killing his five bodyguards and kidnapping him. After 54 days in captivity, Moro was shot and killed on 9 May 1978. An Italian court sentenced 32 Red Brigades members to life imprisonment in 1983.
Where did the murder happen?
Via Michelangelo Caetani, Rome, Italy.
What is the current status of the case?
Status: solved.
More cases in Italy

Sources

  1. ENCYCLOPEDICKidnapping and murder of Aldo MoroWikipedia · 2026-07-12
  2. PRESSMoro's killers among 32 jailed for life in ItalyThe New York Times · 2026-07-12
  3. PRESSEsterno Notte: Marco Bellocchio's series grapples with the ghost of Aldo MoroThe Conversation · 2026-07-12

Record history

First published
JUL 13, 2026