Documentary record Bound by Fear
← Explore all cases
Conviction New religious movements Satanic-branded violence Somma Lombardo, Varese, Italy · 2006

Italy: 'Beasts of Satan' — group members killed by their own circle in satanic rites

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

leading figures of the 'Bestie di Satana' group

Organization

'Bestie di Satana'

Spiritual nexus

CORE, not merely terror: the victims were the group's own members, killed by the circle whose satanic ideology defined their lives — one of them destroyed as a 'sacrifice'. The doctrine was the authority, and it was turned inward.

  • Violent occult ideology or sacrifice
  • Ritual, oath, or initiation

Evidence structure

Proceedings

  1. 2006-01-31 · convictions; confirmed final at the Court of Cassation

    Corte d'Assise di Busto Arsizio; Corte d'Assise d'Appello di Milano; Corte di Cassazione. On 31 January 2006 the Busto Arsizio assize court convicted the core of the 'Bestie di Satana' for the January 1998 killings of group members Chiara Marino and Fabio Tollis and the January 2004 killing of Mariangela Pezzotta: Nicola Sapone received two life sentences, with Paolo Leoni, Marco Zampollo, Eros Monterosso and Elisabetta Ballarin receiving terms of 24 to 26 years. On appeal in Milan in 2007 Sapone's life terms were confirmed and Leoni's was raised to life; the Court of Cassation confirmed all sentences in May 2008, making them final. Andrea Volpe and Pietro Guerrieri were convicted separately in abbreviated proceedings.

Appellate history

  1. 2007 · undefined

    undefined

  2. 2008-05 · undefined

    undefined

Documented coercion mechanisms

  • the group's satanic ideology directing the killing of its own members
  • a victim killed as a 'sacrifice' identified with the Madonna
  • ritual burial in a forest pit

Primary record

Sources

national newspaper court reporting final appellate disposition VareseNews: 'Bestie di Satana, sentenze confermate per tutti in Cassazione', May 2008.

Reports the final cassation confirmation.

Related record

Related cases · New religious movements

← Explore all cases