Turetta admits planning Giulia Cecchettin's femicide

(ANSA) - ROME, OCT 25 - Filippo Turetta, a young man who has confessed to brutal murder last year of his 22-year-old former girlfriend Giulia Cecchettin in a case that shocked Italy and highlighted its problem with femicide and gender-based violence, admitted in a Venice court on Friday that he had planned the homicide.
    Making his first appearance at his trial, Turetta said he had told 'a series of lies' when he denied premeditation during his initial interrogation with prosecutor Andrea Petroni.
    He admitted that he had drawn up a 'to-do list' a few days before the murder, including withdrawing cash with an ATM card, which would then be thrown away in order to help cover his tracks, and that he had studied on the Internet how to prevent his car from being spotted during his escape.
    Turetta has admitted to stabbing Cecchettin to death at Fossò, near Venice, on November 11, 2023, days before she was due to graduate from Padua University in biomedical engineering.
    The case caused widespread dismay partly because of the brutality of the killing and also because of the young age of the perpetrator and victim.
    Prosecutors say Turetta, who was doing the same course was Cecchettin, stabbed her 75 times.
    Cecchettin was reported missing on the day she was murdered after she met up with Turetta and went for a meal with him.
    Her body was found in a gully at Val Caltea, near Lake Barcis in Friuli, on November 18, 2023 .
    Turetta went on the run after dumping the corpse.
    He was tracked on the side of the road near Leipzig, Germany after he ran out of money and his car ran out of petrol, a week after the murder.
    Also present in the courtroom on Friday was the victim's father Gino Cecchettin, who is among the civil plaintiffs in the trial.
    Speaking at her funeral in December, Gino Cecchettin said he hoped his daughter's death might mark a turning point in the fight against gender-based violence in Italy.
    Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara, who had already committed to tackling the issue, subsequently sent a circular letter to schools inviting them to get pupils to reflect on his words.
    (ANSA).