Did you know...?
That between 1968 and 1985, a barbaric killer stalked the countryside around Florence, claiming at least sixteen victims? The killer, who came to be known as the Monster of Florence has never been identified, though four different men were convicted of the murders at different times.
Though things might have changed today, but during the decades these murders took place there was a sub-culture at work in Italy that much of the rest of the world would have been unfamiliar with. In the Italy of that time, young women were not encouraged to be independent, at least not in their living situations. This was not a culture where a young woman, educated or not, went out and got her own place to live. She lived with her family until she got married, at which time she of course moved in with her husband. Because bachelor pads weren't en vogue either, young lovers wanting to engage in intimate relations had few places to go for privacy.
Obviously family homes were out of the question. Because of this, there was an entire sub-culture of young people parking their cars in the pastoral countryside at night and enjoying private time together.
It was this un-talked-about scene that the Monster of Florence patrolled. It would have been easy for him to locate victims; easy for him to stalk and watch them for hours before striking. Much like the also-unidentified Zodiac killer, Il Monstro attacked couples, but often showed more anger toward the female victims than the male ones, sometimes mutilating the female genitalia. One victimized couple were both men--most likely gay lovers--and while the killer showed great anger to the victim who may have looked more like a woman from a distance, this was also the only time the killer changed his MO, leading police to believe he was angry and disoriented upon finding that neither of his victims were women. In another instance, the male victim even survived.
Not all the murders took place in cars, but the MO was always similar enough for a connection. In most cases, both lovers were shot with a .22 beretta. Sometimes they were stabbed as well.
In all those years, more than ten thousand people were interviewed, and various people arrested and charged with the crimes, but nothing ever panned out. Most often suspects were released because more murders happened while they were in custody. To this day, the killer has never been positively identified.
Have you ever heard of the Monster of Florence before? What do you think this killer's MO says about his psychology?
 |
| Source |
That between 1968 and 1985, a barbaric killer stalked the countryside around Florence, claiming at least sixteen victims? The killer, who came to be known as the Monster of Florence has never been identified, though four different men were convicted of the murders at different times.
Though things might have changed today, but during the decades these murders took place there was a sub-culture at work in Italy that much of the rest of the world would have been unfamiliar with. In the Italy of that time, young women were not encouraged to be independent, at least not in their living situations. This was not a culture where a young woman, educated or not, went out and got her own place to live. She lived with her family until she got married, at which time she of course moved in with her husband. Because bachelor pads weren't en vogue either, young lovers wanting to engage in intimate relations had few places to go for privacy.
Obviously family homes were out of the question. Because of this, there was an entire sub-culture of young people parking their cars in the pastoral countryside at night and enjoying private time together.
 |
| True Crime Book about murders Source |
Not all the murders took place in cars, but the MO was always similar enough for a connection. In most cases, both lovers were shot with a .22 beretta. Sometimes they were stabbed as well.
In all those years, more than ten thousand people were interviewed, and various people arrested and charged with the crimes, but nothing ever panned out. Most often suspects were released because more murders happened while they were in custody. To this day, the killer has never been positively identified.
Have you ever heard of the Monster of Florence before? What do you think this killer's MO says about his psychology?
I don't know why this kind of stuff fascinates me, but it does. The unsolved mystery and all the psychology behind the "who". Sad case, but intriguing.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of the guy, but Man what a psycho. Freud would say he had Mother issues.
ReplyDelete