The following is a summary of the police report detailing the death of Luigi Castaldi and Laura Bucci. The father of the deceased female, Enzo B. Bucci, fell asleep on the night of October 18, 1969 while reading in an armchair in his living room. His wife, Sylvia Bucci, slept in the master bedroom. Laura had told her parents that she was going out with Luigi, a “nice Italian boy” as she described him, and while they weren’t exactly excited, they let her go without much protest. The rest of the evening at the Bucci household was mundane: some wine, half a pack of cigarettes, reading, then bed for both of them.
At approximately 8:45 p.m., Laura and Luigi arrived at the latter’s parents’ house, but did not go inside. Michele Massimo Cristaldi and his wife Anna said they never saw their son again after he left their house for Laura’s. As best as we can determine, the deceased male snuck into the house and took a number of small weapons and drug paraphernalia before heading back out unnoticed. Around 9:30 p.m., Laura and Luigi were spotted near Cinecitta’s headquarters in Rome, loitering and smoking what we can assume to be hashish. They were next seen eating gelato near the Colosseum.
Their whereabouts remain unknown for the hour of 10 to 11p.m.
Around 11:04 p.m., a call was placed to the Bucci household from a payphone near the beach. It wasn’t answered. Laura, Luigi, or one of the assailants involved may have placed it before the assault began. Officers Ninoretto and Martino reported flashing lights by the beach at approximately 11:11 p.m., but chose not to stop due to a religious superstition involving “angel numbers” (these Officers have since been fired by the department). A nearby resident also reported screams for “help” around 11:20 p.m., but convinced he was dreaming, went back to bed without looking out his window.
On the morning of October 19, 1969, the bodies of Laura Bucci and Luigi Castaldi were found on the beach. Laura was killed with a single point-blank shot to the back of the head, and Luigi died of a gunshot through the mouth and out the back of his head—a scene we can only describe as a murder-suicide. Any other possibility would be without confidence. There were several pairs of footprints in the sand at the crime scene, although the assailants, assistants, or friends haven’t been located. Hashish, heroin, and cocaine were found on Luigi’s person; Laura’s pockets contained small amounts of hashish, Valium, and a single tab of peyote.
The parents of the deceased were notified at 9:03 a.m.
Mr. Castaldi identified his son’s body at 11:10 a.m.; Mrs. Bucci identified her daughter an hour later. The parent were kept separate to prevent any further violence, as the father of the deceased female made threats against everyone and everything around him as soon as he was contacted. When the police came over to tell them what happened, they brought an ambulance with them, certain that one of these four parents would plunge into such intense grief that they’d need to be sedated. Enzo indeed needed sedation, but only to prevent him from killing everyone in the room, everyone telling him that his daughter was dead, shot in the back of the head on the beach by her boyfriend.
After a cursory investigation, the case was closed and considered “resolved” by Italian police. The father of the deceased is a filmmaker and featured his daughter in some of his films in small roles (possible motive/stalker/jealous boyfriend).
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