Overview
The Novi Ligure murder (in Italian, il delitto di Novi Ligure) was a double homicide committed on the evening of 21 February 2001 in Novi Ligure, a town in the province of Alessandria in the Piedmont region of north-western Italy. The victims were Susanna "Susy" Cassini, a 41-year-old accountant, and her 11-year-old son, Gianluca De Nardo, who were stabbed to death in the family home.
The perpetrators were Cassini's own 16-year-old daughter, Erika De Nardo, and Erika's 17-year-old boyfriend, Mauro Favaro, who was and remains widely known by the nickname "Omar." The case became one of the most notorious crimes in modern Italian history, both for the youth of those responsible and for the false account they initially gave to investigators and the public.
The Crime
On the evening of 21 February 2001, Susanna Cassini and her young son Gianluca were attacked and killed inside their home in Novi Ligure. According to the investigation and subsequent reporting, the two victims were stabbed a combined total of 97 times. The extreme number of wounds, paired with the domestic setting, made the killings especially shocking to the Italian public.
Investigators concluded that the crime had been planned in advance. The motive most consistently cited in reporting was Erika's deep resentment toward her mother, whom she experienced as controlling, combined with the relationship between Erika and Favaro of which the family disapproved. After the killings, the two staged the scene to suggest an outside attack and gave a fabricated account to police.
The False Accusation
In the immediate aftermath, Erika De Nardo told investigators that the murders had been carried out by intruders during an attempted robbery, describing the assailants as foreign workers. This false narrative briefly directed suspicion toward immigrants, and an Albanian man was detained before being cleared.
The fabricated story unfolded against a backdrop of heightened public anxiety over immigration in early-2000s Italy, and it received heavy media coverage before the truth emerged. The case is often cited in Italian discussions of how a false accusation can inflame ethnic tensions, with local demonstrations occurring before the real circumstances of the crime were established.
Investigation and Confession
Suspicion quickly turned toward Erika and Favaro after inconsistencies appeared in their accounts. A pivotal moment came when the two, having been summoned in connection with the case, were recorded by investigators while believing themselves unobserved. Incriminating conversations captured during this surveillance helped break the false alibi.
Confronted with the evidence, the pair admitted their involvement. The collapse of the home-invasion story, and the revelation that the daughter and her boyfriend were responsible, transformed the case from an apparent random tragedy into a planned matricide and the killing of a child by family members and an intimate.
Trials and Sentences
Because both defendants were minors at the time of the crime, they were tried within Italy's juvenile justice system, which limits the maximum penalties applicable to offenders under 18 and emphasizes rehabilitation. Both Erika De Nardo and Mauro "Omar" Favaro were convicted of the murders.
According to press reporting, Erika received a sentence in the region of 16 years and Favaro a somewhat shorter term of around 14 years. Both served their sentences and were released the following decade, with Favaro reported released in October 2010 and Erika in December 2011. Precise durations reflected the juvenile framework and reductions available under Italian law.
Aftermath and Legacy
The Novi Ligure case remains a touchstone in Italian true-crime memory and is frequently revisited in documentaries, podcasts, and retrospective journalism, particularly around its anniversaries. Discussion has centered on the youth of the perpetrators, the planning behind the killings, and the damage done by the initial false accusation against immigrants.
Following their release, both individuals sought to rebuild private lives away from public attention. Italian media have periodically reported on their subsequent circumstances. Out of respect for the victims, Susanna Cassini and the 11-year-old Gianluca, the case is most responsibly remembered for the lives lost rather than for sensational detail.
