Reopening the Investigation into the Murder of Fausto and Iaio: A Quest for Justice

After Milan, Telese Terme also requests the reopening of the investigation into the murder of Fausto and Iaio, the young left-wing militants killed on March 18, 1978, in Via Mancinelli at Casoretto, a stone's throw from Leoncavallo, the social center they frequented. The City Council, in the session of March 15, approved and passed the motion with which the mayor, Giovanni Caporaso, makes a formal request to the Milan Prosecutor's Office 'as a sign of urgency for justice, even after so many years from the events, so that the reopening of the investigation is considered, to give them - the motion continues - their loved ones and the entire city, that justice and peace indispensable for a true shared memory.' As highlighted in a note from the Municipality of Telese, 'although the political motive of the act was never formally proven, it is a common opinion that the murder of the two eighteen-year-olds, Fausto Tinelli and Lorenzo (Iaio) Iannucci, can be attributed to elements of the far right; the case was filed without a culprit in 2000; for a period, there were also hypotheses that the death of the two young men could somehow be related to the Moro kidnapping, which occurred two days earlier, due to alleged connections of Fausto Tinelli with the Milanese hideout of the Red Brigades in Via Montenevoso, which is located a few meters away from his family's home.' The note also highlights why Telese Terme followed the case with trepidation and anguish: 'Because Lorenzo Iannucci was born in Telese on September 29, 1959, and left for Milan at the age of 8, where his father had emigrated for work. As stated by Maria Iannucci (reported by the Polis Foundation), sister of Lorenzo and active member of the Association of Relatives and Friends of Fausto and Iaio 'The death of these boys has remained one of the many Italian mysteries linked to political assassinations and after years of investigations, a true version of the facts that would bring out the real responsibilities has never been reached.' In 2023, the publishing house 2000diciassette publishes 'Fausto and Iaio. An Uncomfortable Truth Behind a Veil of Silence,' a book written by Nuccio Franco and Alfonso Grillo, in which the authors, two people from Telese, after meticulous research and reconstructions, decide 'to tell the story of a son of our land, of our community as a due act to not forget, to nourish the flame of memory that no darkness will ever obscure.' Finally, for the mayor and the administration, 'more than 20 years after the judicial closure of the case and exactly 45 years from the events, there remains the bitterness that to this day there are no culprits for a criminal event that has remained in our memory, of the Milanese and of all Italians who followed with apprehension the events of those particular years for our history, therefore, also following the solicitations of Franco and Grillo and in the wake of what was requested by the mayor of Milan Beppe Sala, we decided to deliberate, the entire City Council, majority and opposition, a formal request for the reopening of investigations.'