Murder of Yara Gambirasio

Late in the evening on the 26 November 2010, 13-year-old Italian schoolgirl Yara Gambirasio disappeared after being at the sports centre in her city, Brembate di Sopra, Lombardy, Italy. She had gone there to bring a stereo for a gymnastics competition scheduled for the following weekend. Her body was found on 26 February 2011 in a field near the industrial area of Chignolo d’Isola, 10km from Brembate. The body, now decomposed, showed multiple deep cuts and a head wound, inflicted when the victim was still alive and not individually lethal. The cause of death was a combination of these injuries and hypothermia. 11 different DNA traces were found on the body and only two of these have been identified and attributed to individuals. One of these traces, later attributed to Massimo Bossetti, was found on her leggings and intimate clothing. There was no sign of sexual assault.

In August 2011, the final autopsy report had not been released, and the exact cause of death was undetermined, but leaked details suggested the death resulted from a head blow, non-lethal cuts, and hypothermia. Yara's funeral was held on 28 May 2011, led by Bishop Francesco Beschi of Bergamo. Initially, a young Moroccan man, Mohamed Fikri, was wrongly arrested due to a mistranslation of his words.

Forensic scientists analyzed 22,000 DNA profiles from a trace found on Yara's underwear and leggings, eventually leading to the arrest of Massimo Bossetti, a local construction worker, in June 2014. His DNA matched that of "Ignoto 1," the nickname given to the suspect. Bossetti pleaded not guilty to the abduction and killing, arguing his DNA was either contaminated or fabricated, but police maintained the sample was of excellent quality. Despite questions about the DNA evidence, Bossetti was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Corte d'Assise of Bergamo in July 2016, with the verdict upheld on appeal and confirmed by the Court of Cassation in October 2018. In November 2019, Bossetti's lawyers requested a review of the DNA evidence, which was denied in March 2021 due to insufficient DNA remaining.

The search for the culprit was one of the most extensive in Italian criminal history. In December 2022, an investigation into Letizia Ruggeri, the chief investigator, was launched over accusations of misdirection and trial fraud. In 2024, Netflix released a documentary series on the case.