Responsible for the murders. they spin these outrageous theories, satanic sex, body parts used in bizarre rituals, and then they start looking for the evidence to support the theories. giuttari claimed it was spezi and preston who were spinning a fairy tale. translator: if he writes a novel and then says it s the truth, it s not right. it s presumptuous. he isn t telling the truth. the war of the writers was about to escalate. remember, acting on a tip, spezi and preston had gone to an old villa searching for evidence against carlo. they found nothing, but soon afterward, preston s cell phone rang. a judge overseeing the monster case wanted to talk to him immediately. preston went to his office. what did they want to know? they asked, why did you go to the villa? what did you do there? how long did you spend there? and you know, my italian is not perfect. i started stumbling and stammering which i do in italian and it suddenly occurred to me, my god, i sound like i m lying to
for murder. and just when you think this case couldn t get any stranger, another twist. an ex-con came to spezi and in return for a few euros gave him a white-hot tip. the source claimed that carlo had taken him to one of his hideaways on the grounds of this centuries-old villa, and what he had seen inside might crack the monster case once and for all. he told me that he saw in his house the gun and in a little armoire six metallic boxes. the gun, and in an armoire, six boxes matching the number of women who had been mutilated by the monster. tantalizing, and if true, proof that carlo was the killer. did you believe it? well, yes. spezi just about had a heart attack. he was telling me this. i said, mario, this sounds too good to be true. it s a renaissance villa. but preston was intrigued enough that he asked spezi to
so you are not the monster of florence? you asked him outright? i asked him directly. i asked him, mario, i m sorry. i can t let you do this scoop. i can t let you do this scoop. then he said something very vulgar in italian. the gist of it being what? the gist of it, i like my women living when i have sex with them. then the writers got up to leave. he said, ah, spezi, i forgot something. i never joke. and i never kid around. what did you take that to mean? well, it was a threat. in italian it s even more of a threat than it is in english. as you left his home after speaking to him, what did you think? well, me and doug, we were silent. we entered our car, and then almost at the same time, we say, it s him. if it was him, if carlo was the monster, it was a stunning moment. and it would make a great ending to their book on the monster case.
Man they suspected of being the monster. translator: evidently, mr. preston did not do the least bit of fact checking. in 1983 when the two young germans were killed, this person was in prison for another crime unrelated to the monster crimes. if giutarri was so sure that carlo was not the monster, we asked if he would set up a meeting for us and that night at giutarri s office, it happened. after conferring with him for nearly an hour, carlo agreed to speak to us, but not on camera. standing face-to-face, at times uncomfortably close, carlo answered our questions with a smile that barely concealed his contempt. we asked if he was good with a knife. he said no, although he does own a scuba knife. he s a diver. we asked if he was a good shot. he said he had never fired a gun. not even a toy. we asked about his prison record. he said he was sure he had been in prison during one of the monster killings.
So here we are, more than 20 years after the end of a killing spree that left 14 young people dead. the murder weapon has never been found. there s no definitive proof of a sardinian connection, let alone of a satanic cult. the guy who tipped spezi about the villa and iron boxes was a con man out to make a few bucks and the endless investigation has now turned into a monster itself eating more of its own. the judge who interrogated doug preston is under investigation for abuse of his office. so is inspector giuttari who told us carlo was in jail when he really wasn t. giutarri is also serving a suspended sentence for making false statements in an unrelated case. and mario spezi, a high court in rome finally cleared him of criminal wrongdoing. he says the book about carlo is the last thing he ll ever write on the monster case. do you believe it? i believe. do you believe he s the one? i can t prove, but i believe. does it even matter anymore? pia was just 18 in 1984 when the