Susanna Riva On September 27, the province of Como was shocked by a tragic discovery: Patrizia Monteleone , 64, was found dead in the swimming pool of her family home in the hamlet of Buccinigo in Erba. The victim, limited in her ability to walk due to a stroke, was confined to a wheelchair. Her ex-husband, Carmine Civitillo , raised the alarm, claiming he had gone out in the morning and found his daughter's mother in the water upon his return.
The arrest of Carmine Civitillo
On October 31, Carabinieri officers from the Como provincial command executed a pre-trial detention order against Civitillo, 76, originally from Benevento. He was detained in the same province after the seizure of the house where the alleged crime had occurred.
The man was charged with aggravated voluntary homicide , accused of having suffocated his ex-wife before throwing her into the swimming pool, trying to make it look like an accident.
Reconstruction of the facts according to the investigations
Initial investigations at the scene immediately raised doubts about Civitillo's version. The wheelchair was found soaked on the edge of the pool, a difficult factor to explain if the victim had fallen spontaneously.
The autopsy revealed that the cause of death was suffocation , with signs of lacerations to the mouth, so the fall into the water was only a subsequent act.
The autopsy tests
The medical examiner stated that the blood in the mouth and the airway injuries indicated prolonged compression, incompatible with simple accidental immersion. Only after death was the victim pushed into the water, likely to make everyone believe it was a tragic domestic accident.
Wiretapping and video surveillance
Footage from a local security camera showed Civitillo's car returning to the house well before 11 a.m., contradicting his claim of returning around noon. Furthermore, neighbors reported hearing screams for help that same morning, further undermining his ex-husband's story.
Motives, threats and the role of family members
The investigation revealed a family context marked by tension. Eleonora , one of three daughters, stated that the relationship between her parents was extremely conflictual and that her father had repeatedly expressed the intention of "getting rid" of his wife, considering her a "burden." On July 10th, the ex-husband was heard uttering the threat: "Sooner or later I'll drown you." These words, combined with requests to reduce child support and the financial pressure associated with living together in the Erba house, served as the impetus for the prosecution.
His daughter, Giada, asked her father's family doctor for a psychiatric evaluation, suggesting that the man might be suffering from severe mental imbalance, lacking inhibitions. Como prosecutor Alessandra Bellù emphasized the defendant's "cold determination" and his complete indifference to the victim's fate, even commenting on the death with laughter and contemptuous jokes.