Is Chief, the final- Chief article.
A flurry of unanswered calls and repeated contacts between investigators and a suspect are under scrutiny as prosecutors examine potential obstruction of justice in the 2017 investigation into the murder of Chiara Poggi.
The investigation is moving quickly. Phones are ringing, calls are going unanswered, and a series of calls are being exchanged between law enforcement and a person of interest – activity prosecutors in Brescia, Italy, describe as “anomalous” and potentially indicative of a “negotiation” that occurred eight years ago. This scrutiny centers on a possible agreement that may have influenced the 2017 investigation into Andrea Sempio and the murder of Chiara Poggi.
An inquiry has now implicated former Deputy Prosecutor of Pavia, Mario Venditti, and Sempio’s father, Giuseppe Sempio. The case, which initially captivated Italy, is now being re-examined amid allegations of corruption and a compromised investigation.
Investigators are focusing on a pattern of cash transfers and withdrawals totaling an estimated “20 to 30 thousand euros” that they believe was intended to secure a swift dismissal of the case.
Two weeks ago, Silvio Sapone, a former head of the Pavia judicial police squad, was questioned in Brescia. Prosecutors asked him about a phone call he received from Andrea Sempio on January 22, 2017, at 5:30 p.m. that lasted over five minutes (315 seconds). They also inquired about four unanswered calls made to Sempio the previous day from a landline at the Pavia Prosecutor’s Office, discovered during a review of phone records. Sapone also made several unanswered calls to Sempio from his private cell phone.
Sapone stated he “did not remember” the reason for those calls, which occurred twenty days before Sempio was scheduled for questioning (on February 10, 2017). According to Brescia prosecutors, there were no notifications or reasons for an investigator to contact a murder suspect at that time.
Here’s the sequence of events: at 10:31 a.m. and 10:32 a.m., someone used the Pavia Prosecutor’s Office landline to call Sempio’s cell phone. At 10:33 a.m., the same call was made from the cell phone of officer Sapone. Then, at 10:35 a.m., another call came from the landline. Two minutes later, Sapone tried again from his cell phone. Still no answer. The same attempts were made at 10:54 a.m. and 10:58 a.m., again from an unknown caller using the Prosecutor’s Office landline.
At 11:49 a.m., Sempio responded and received a call from his lawyer, Massimo Lovati, and they spoke for about 30 seconds. At 12:01 p.m., Lovati called again, and the conversation lasted a minute. At 12:46 p.m., Sapone made one last attempt (unsuccessful) to reach Sempio on his cell phone.
The following day was Sunday. But in the afternoon, the contacts resumed rapidly: at 5:25 p.m., Sempio spoke with his lawyer, Federico Soldani, for two minutes. Three minutes later, Sempio called Sapone – the now-notorious five-minute and 15-second call. Immediately afterward (5:37 p.m.), the suspect called Soldani, and they spoke for four minutes. But at 5:43 p.m., Sempio called Soldani again: just over two minutes of conversation. As soon as he hung up, at 5:48 p.m., the suspect called Lieutenant Sapone on his private cell phone: 52 seconds of conversation. It didn’t end there. The moment the call ended (5:50 p.m.), a text message was sent from Andrea Sempio’s cell phone to Sapone’s. Then, at 5:51 p.m., Sempio called Soldani again, and they spoke for 36 seconds. At 6:13 p.m., the suspect contacted his lawyer Soldani once more. A nearly two-minute phone call, the last of that hectic day. Prosecutors in Brescia have questioned Soldani, Lovati, and Sapone, but none have yet been able to recall the reason for those calls.
