Chiara Nava In the Pietracatella mystery, the theory of accidental ingestion of ricin by Antonella Di Ielsi and her daughter Sara Di Vita is losing ground. According to sources close to the investigation, autopsy findings revealed a quantity of poison in the biological remains equal to approximately 140 times the minimum lethal dose.
An element that, together with the testimonies collected by investigators, would strengthen the murder hypothesis , still at the centre of the investigation by the Larino Prosecutor's Office.
The news comes just hours after the statements of pathologist Benedetta De Luca, who emphasized that the autopsy alone could not determine whether the ricin had been ingested accidentally or administered by a third party.
Larino prosecutor Elvira Antonelli subsequently defined the accidental poisoning hypothesis as unlikely , while specifying that investigators are continuing to evaluate all leads.
Ricin, a quantity that calls into question the accidental hypothesis
The information on the quantity of poison takes on particular weight in the reconstruction of the incident.
Tests had already confirmed the presence of ricin in the biological samples of the two victims, at concentrations consistent with acute intoxication. The Larino Prosecutor's Office is pursuing charges of aggravated double homicide against unknown persons , while investigators are trying to reconstruct how the substance was ingested and who may be responsible.
This was precisely the point that experts had been discussing in the last few hours. Benedetta De Luca explained that no food residue had been found in the digestive tracts of the two victims, only blood, a finding that could be linked to the repeated vomiting they had experienced before their deaths. However, the absence of residue alone does not allow them to determine how the ricin entered their bodies.
The new data on the amount detected in the biological samples, however, changes the weight of the various investigative hypotheses. According to the sources cited today, such a high concentration would make the idea of accidental exposure less plausible and would strengthen the hypothesis that the two women were intentionally poisoned . However, this is an investigative lead and not a proven case of responsibility.
Investigations are still looking for who administered the poison.
The central question of the investigation remains unanswered: how was the ricin administered and who might have administered it? Investigators are reconstructing the victims' personal and family relationships, interviewing people with knowledge of the facts, and analyzing evidence collected from the Pietracatella home.
As of September, the results of the tests entrusted to experts from the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin were still pending. The tests include the presence of ricin in the evidence collected from the house, in seized food, and in biological samples , as well as the search for possible antibodies in family members. Numerous findings, including food, liquids, and objects acquired during the inspections, have been sent to the German experts.
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor's Office is maintaining the double homicide investigation open and is continuing to gather evidence to reconstruct the poisoning. Expert statements have clarified that the cause of death was acute ricin poisoning, but they have not yet definitively established the manner of exposure.
The new information on the amount of poison is therefore an important piece of information for investigators, but it doesn't close the case. The source of the ricin, the time of ingestion, the method by which it was introduced into the two victims' systems, and, most importantly, the possible perpetrator of the poisoning remain unclear.