Garlasco Murder: Andrea Sempio DNA Tested, Chiara Poggi Case Reopened After 18 Years

Eighteen years after the murder of Chiara Poggi, Garlasco case is enriched with a new development. Andrea Sempio, already investigated in 2017 and then exonerated, was subjected to genetic tests again, after new analyses identified traces of DNA under the victim's fingernails that could be traced back to him. The outcome of the test could change the course of the judicial affair, which has so far seen Alberto Stasi, Chiara's ex-boyfriend, definitively sentenced a 16 years in prison.

Sempio, now 37 years old, he was summoned by the Carabinieri of the Investigative Unit of Milano to be subjected a saliva sampling and verify the correspondence with the biological traces found at the crime scene. "We are calm, we have nothing to fear and we will collaborate“, his lawyer said Angela Keeps a Watch at the exit from the Montebello barracks Milano, surrounded by reporters and cameras.

New Investigations: DNA, Fingerprints and Alibis Under Examination

Investigators are now re-examining the entire crime scene with advanced technologies. In particular, attention is focused on different footprints:

• The digital ones, found on some objects in the Poggi family's villa, including the soap dispenser in the bathroom
• Those of the shoes, which could belong to the murderer and which until now had not been attributed with certainty.

Investigators are also checking some clues considered suspicious:

• Three abnormal phone calls sent from Andrea Sempio's cell phone in the days preceding the crime (4, 7 and 8 August 2007), all of short duration, but which could suggest an interest in the victim's movements.
• A parking ticket, which Sempio had presented to demonstrate that he was not in Garlasco on the morning of the crime, but which the telephone cells would have denied.

According to the defense of Alberto Stasi, the DNA found at the crime scene is readable and would belong to Sempio.

Andrea Sempio? The relationship with Poggi and Stasi

At the time of the facts, Andrea Sempio was 19 years old and was a close friend of Marco Poggi, Chiara's younger brother. The young man often visited the villa on Via Pascoli, but he always maintained that he never had direct relations with Chiara Poggi. "We greeted each other at home and nothing more“, he had declared in the past.

In 2017, his position had already been assessed by investigators, at the request of Stasi's lawyers, who had identified a genetic trace attributable to him. However, the charges against him were dropped due to insufficient evidence. Today, with new technologies available, the DNA found under victim's fingernails becomes potentially crucial evidence in reopening case.

The investigation is now focusing on the possibility that the murder of Chiara Poggi was not committed by a single person. In fact, some genetic traces present at the crime scene have not yet been attributed with certainty to a single subject, leading investigators to hypothesize the involvement of multiple individuals.

Sempio's lawyer: "Artfully fabricated accusations"

Sempio's defense forcefully denied all charges, claiming that the DNA sampling was "a plot" organized by the lawyers of Alberto Stasi, to shift the focus to their client.

The lawyer Max Lovati said: “The investigation was steered by Stasi’s defense investigators, who took Sempio’s DNA in an unauthorized manner. There is no concrete evidence that could link him to the murder of Chiara Poggi.” According to the lawyer, even the new elements such as fingerprints and phone calls they would be easily explained:

• Calls to Poggi's house would have been made to search Marco Poggi, his close friend.
• The parking ticket it would have been shown in good faith, without any intention of creating a false alibi.
• DNA under the victim's fingernails It could have ended up there accidentally, perhaps through indirect contact.

The reopening of the case?

The crucial point that led to the reopening of the case was a ruling by the Court of Cassation, which accepted the request of the Pavia Prosecutor's Office. After twice rejecting requests for new investigations on Sempio, the court finally gave the green light in September 2024, believing that there were sufficient elements for a further investigation.

The main accusation against Sempio è murder in collaboration with unknown persons, but the hypothesis that the murderer could have been Alberto Stasi with an accomplice. This last theory, supported by Stasi's lawyers, has pushed the investigators to review all the evidence collected in the last 18 years.

A case still open

After almost two decades, Garlasco crime has returned to the attention of Italian justice with theregistration of Andrea Sempio in the register of suspects. 

Il DNA collection by Andrea Sempio could provide a definitive answer, but at the moment many open questions remain.

If the tests confirm that the DNA of Sempio is present under Chiara Poggi's fingernails, her position would worsen considerably. If the outcome were negative, the trail followed by the investigators could turn out to be a dead end, leading the investigation once again into a impasse.