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,
appeared at a hearing of his trial for the homicide for the
first time in a Venice court on Friday. 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 says 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.
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