Novi Ligure murder

On the evening of 21 February 2001, Susanna Cassini, a 41-year-old accountant, and her 11-year-old son Gianluca were stabbed a combined 97 times inside their home in Novi Ligure, Piedmont, Italy. At the time of the killings, Cassini's husband and Gianluca's father, Francesco De Nardo, a 45-year-old manager at the Pernigotti chocolate factory, was away playing football with friends. Investigators later concluded that had he been home, he too would have been targeted, as the killers had planned to kill him as well.

Immediately after the killings, the family's 16-year-old daughter, Erika De Nardo, claimed that foreign workers had committed the murders during an attempted robbery. A young Albanian man was briefly detained as a result of her account. However, investigators found inconsistencies in the versions of events given by Erika and her 17-year-old boyfriend, Mauro "Omar" Favaro. There were no signs of forced entry at any door or window, no valuables were missing, and neighbours reported that the family's two guard dogs had not barked and that no unusual noise had been heard outside the house that evening. The knives used in the attack were determined to belong to the household's own kitchen set, undermining the robbery narrative.

Suspicion shifted to Erika De Nardo and then to Favaro after a passer-by reported having seen him on the evening of the crime walking with bloodied trousers. On the evening of 22 February 2001, both were brought in officially as persons with knowledge of the events and left alone together in a room fitted with hidden recording devices; their recorded conversation was found to make clear their involvement. Both were subsequently tried and convicted of the murders. Erika De Nardo was sentenced to 16 years in prison and Mauro Favaro to 14 years.

The case drew significant public attention in Italy. Following Erika De Nardo's initial claim that immigrants were responsible, newspapers called for a crackdown on illegal immigration, and the Northern League (Lega Nord) organized anti-immigrant demonstrations. Members of the public also created a website in support of the daughter, which was later shut down by the Italian justice ministry. In the aftermath, Italian officials expressed discomfort over the anti-immigrant reaction the case had provoked; then-Minister of Justice Piero Fassino stated that someone should apologise to immigrants for the level of incivility displayed in the preceding days.

Francesco De Nardo continued to live in the house where his wife and son were killed and made weekly phone calls to his daughter during her imprisonment. Susanna Cassini's mother said she had forgiven her granddaughter and hoped to see and help her. Erika De Nardo was released from prison in December 2011, and Mauro Favaro was released in October 2010.