giutarri s office, it happened. after conferring with giutarri 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. he just couldn t remember which one. we later checked his record and found that, in fact, carlo had never been in jail during any of the monster killings. he and giuttari were either mistaken or lying about that. but carlo did have a criminal record. the man who had claimed he had never fired even a toy gun had been arrested for illegal possession of firearms.
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. but another author was also at work on that other theory of the crimes. translator: i believe i have done my duty, seriously and for many years. i wanted to make the recent developments official in my book. so that this story is not forgotten. florence police inspector michele giuttari was writing his own book, and who could blame him? books on the monster case are big sellers in italy.
and giuttari thought he had compelling evidence that a satanic cult was behind the monster killings like that oddly shaped stone found at one of the murder scenes. translator: a uniquely shaped rock was found, in the form of a truncated pyramid, to which the experts on satanism granted importance. florence was intrigued. mario spezi was amused. i called some friends of mine and in an afternoon i found seven. seven of these. yes, it s a common object. and what was this strangely carved stone? an antique tuscan doorstop. you can find them in antique stores all over tuscany. the foundation of the satanic cult theory was a doorstop. spezi soon published his findings in the newspaper. and he ridiculed giuttari. ridiculed him. it was a classic spat between two writers, except that one of the writers was also a cop. the police arrived at spezi s apartment 6:00 in the morning,
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 them. and then a twist that truly shocked him. the judge nodded to the stenographer, she pressed the button on her computer and here s my voice. here i am talking to mario spezi. giuttari and his men had been tapping spezi s phone, and even broken into his car, planting bugs there, too. they recorded him and preston discussing the case. and on tape, spezi said something that struck the judge as highly suspicio
the monster of florence, there are elements that point to the theme of satanism. michele giuttari, a tough-talking, cigar-chomping veteran of the florence police department, says the evidence includes stone circles found not far from one crime scene. translator: inside one of these circles were found two roses and a wooden cross stuck upside down in the ground. this is clearly a satanic symbol. he also believes this oddly shaped stone found at another crime scene might have been left by satanists. what do you think of this theory? it s completely crazy. it s completely crazy. spezi developed his own very different theory based on something he says he was told by a high-ranking member of the carabinieri, the italian federal police. they tell me to a journalist who is writing about the monster, they told this new story very interesting. the carabinieri had withdrawn from the case years before, reportedly outraged at the way it was being managed by local