Lucrezia Ciotti Twelve years after the tragic death di Mario BiondoWith the Italian cameraman found hanged in his Madrid home, the case may finally be turning around. For the first time, a Spanish court has recognized that the death may not have been suicide, partially confirming the conclusions already reached in 2022 by the Palermo Court.
The Biondo family, who have always believed that there was more to their son's death than a deliberate act, now sees the possibility of further legal investigations opening up.
Mario Biondo's Death: The Legal Case and the Role of the Docuseries
From the beginning, the Biondo family contested the official conclusion of suicide. In 2022, the Palermo investigating judge, Nicola Aniello, dismissed the case. the investigation due to the expiration of the terms, without however excluding the possibility of homicide. According to the judge, the evidence collected would have indicated a possible staging aimed at covering up a crimeThe story has returned to the spotlight thanks to the Netflix docuseries “The Last Hours of Mario Biondo”, Which has rekindled public and media attention on the case.
The Vosseler law firm, along with attorney Leire Lopez and Mario's parents, Pippo and Santina Biondo, has scheduled a press conference in Barcelona to present all the details of the case and the recent court decision. As the firm emphasizes, “The Court emphasizes that at the moment of the discovery of the body, immediately after the events, investigative activities should have been developed… which were not done", confirming the need to continue the search for the truth.
The hypothesis that the death may have been a homicide disguised as suicide, already emerging in Italy, has thus found its first official recognition in Spain, paving the way for further legal developments.
Twelve years later, Mario Biondo's death may not be a suicide: the latest developments
Twelve years after the death by Mario Biondo, which took place on May 30, 2013 At his home in Madrid, the Spanish Provincial Court acknowledged for the first time that the cameraman's death it might not have been a suicide. The man, husband of presenter Raquel Sanchez Silva, had been found hanged from a bookcase in the couple's home, while his wife was in her hometown, Plasencia, in Extremadura.
Spanish authorities had initially closed the case as a suicide, confirming the closure through an investigating judge. However, in May 2023, the Vosseler law firm filed a complaint with the Madrid Court, highlighting “contradictions and lack of coherence” between the evidence collected and the suicide theory, based on the resolution of the Palermo Court of August 2022, which indicated the homicide hypothesis as "probable."
The Spanish provision underlines that "a complaint is made against certain persons for the first time, with numerous expert evidence and a copy of a court ruling from which indications seem to emerge that Biondo's death was not a suicide." Despite this, the magistrates have rthe family's appeal was rejected, believing that the case “is passed into law".
The law firm explained that, at the time the body was found, some key investigative activities, such as wiretaps, telephone calls, and search warrants, had not been carried out. With the passage of time, these activities could no longer be completed by the Italian authorities. The decision leaves open the possibility of an appeal to the Spanish Constitutional Court and, in parallel, the law firm will present a request for patrimonial liability of the Administration of Justice for the “evident malpractice in the investigation, the autopsy, and the final decision to close the case.”