A mother would do anything for her son. It doesn’t matter how old he gets, he will always be her baby boy. She has been there from the beginning, first to feed and care for. Next she watches over him, kissing his boo-boo’s. She watches as he grows up, meeting a girl, getting married, starting a family of his own. Through all of this, he is still her little boy. So, what would a mother do when her son is about to head off to war? Whatever it takes to keep him safe.
In 1939, Leonarda Cianciulli learned that her eldest son and favorite child,Giuseppe, was going to join the Italian Army, in preparation for World War II. Just as many Italians at the time, he believed he needed to step up and do his part for the war effort. There was nothing she could do to stop him, so she did the only thing she could think of. In order to protect Giuseppe, she would take the lives of others.
Leonarda grew up in Montella, Avellino. While a young girl, she attempted suicide twice. She was able to overcome, and in 1917 she married a local registry office clerk, Raffaele Pansardi. In this time, it was not uncommon for parents to plan the marriage of their daughters, and her parents were no different, so it was no surprise when her parents were upset and unsupportive of her marriage. In fact, Leonarda’s mother cursed the couple.
In 1921, they moved to her husband’s native town of Lauria, Potenza. It was here, just seven years later, that Leonarda was convicted of fraud. Upon her release, the couple made the decision to move to Lacedonia, Avellino, which was relatively close to her hometown. They remained there until 1930, when the Irpinia earthquake struck; their home being one of thousands lost to the disaster. They then moved to Correggio, Reggio Emilia, where Leonarda was able to open a small shop. She became very popular and well respected within her neighborhood. Her neighbors described her as “wonderful,” noting how she doted on her children.
During the course of her marriage, Leonarda had seventeen pregnancies. Three of these were lost to miscarriage. Ten of these children died early, before the age of 10. With only four children left, she became overly protective. Crippled by the deaths of her children, coupled with the curse from her mother, she became what some would call, “paranoid.” She went to see a Romani, who practiced palm reading, hoping relief or confirmation of her fears.
“In your right hand I see prison. In your left, a criminal asylum,” the fortune teller told her.
This prediction didn’t sit well with Leonarda who, at an earlier date, had visited with another fortune teller, one who told her she would marry and have children, but that all of the children would die young.
With the news of her son, Giuseppe, joining the army, she was forced to do the unthinkable.
Leonarda invited Faustina Setti, a local spinster woman, over under the guise of setting her up with a husband. She told her she had found a suitable man in Pola, but asked her to tell no one of the news. She then asked Faustina to write letters to her family members, telling them that she would be visiting the man abroad, letters that Leonarda would mail once Faustina reached Pola.
As she prepared for her departure, Faustina went to visit Leonarda one last time. The women sat down for a glass of wine together, unbeknownst to Faustina one of the glasses was drugged. It was then that Leonarda killed her with an axe and dragged her body into a closet. She cut her into nine parts and gathered her blood in a basin. What happened next, she described in her official statement:
“I threw the pieces into a pot, added seven kilos of caustic soda, which I had bought to make soap, and stirred the mixture until the pieces dissolved in a thick, dark mush that I poured into several buckets and emptied in a nearby septic tank. As for the blood in the basin, I waited until it had coagulated, dried it in the oven, ground it and mixed it with flour, sugar, chocolate, milk and eggs, as well as a bit of margarine, kneading all the ingredients together. I made lots of crunchy tea cakes and served them to the ladies who came to visit, though Giuseppe and I also ate them.”
It is believed that Leonarda took Faustina’s life savings, a total of 30,000 lire ($320 when adjusted for 2020 inflation.), as payment for her matchmaking services.
The second victim was lured in with the opportunity of a job at a school for girls in Piacenza. Francesca Soavi went to Leonarda’s home, and just as Faustina, was asked to write postcards to be sent to her friends with the details of her plans. Before her departure, she returned to Leonarda’s home where the women sat for a glass of wine. On September 5, 1940, Francesca was killed with an axe. Her body was treated the same as that of Faustina, and this time Leonarda walked away with 3,000 lire.
Virginia Cacioppo was a singer, a former soprano said to have sung at La Scala. Leonarda had found her work as the secretary for a mysterious impresario in Florence, or so she claimed. Once again, she was asked to write postcards and not tell anyone. On September 30, 1940, Virginia paid one last visit to Leonarda. The two women sat down for a glass of wine, and it would be Virginia’s last. She was killed with an axe, and cut into pieces just as the previous two had been.
“She ended up in the pot, like the other two…her flesh was fat and white, when it had melted I added a bottle of cologne, and after a long time on the boil I was able to make some most acceptable creamy soap. I gave bars to neighbours and acquaintances. The cakes, too, were better: that woman was really sweet.”
Leonarda received 50,000 lire, assorted jewels, and public bonds for her services. She even sold all of her clothing and shoes.
What Leonarda did not account for, was Virginia’s sister. Suspicious of her sister’s sudden disappearance, she went straight to the superintendent of police in Reggio Emilia and reported her to the police as a missing person. An investigation was opened, and immediately pointed to the soapmaker.
Leonarda Cianciulli was arrested, and maintained that she had nothing to do with Virginia’s disappearance. It wasn’t until police began to suspect Giuseppe as being involved that a full confession was made. She confessed to the murders and even provided detailed accounts of what she had done, just to save her son from any blame.
In 1946, she was tried for murder in Reggio Emilia. She remained unapologetic, and even spoke up to correct the prosecutor when he had gotten particular details wrong. Some say she exuded pride as she concluded, “I gave the copper ladle, which I used to skim the fat off the kettles, to my country, which was so badly in need of metal during the last days of the war.”
Leonarda was found guilty of her crimes and received a sentence of just 30 years in prison, and three years in a criminal asylum, thus fulfilling the prophecy of the palm reader. While incarcerated, she penned her memoirs, titled Confession of an Embittered Soul. Within these memoirs she even provided helpful hints, on how to use the human body in the creation of cakes or soap.
She died of cerebral apoplexy, similar to a stroke, in the women’s criminal asylum in Pozzuoli on October 15, 1970. Today you can find several artifacts from the case, including the “pot,” on display at the Museo Criminologico in Rome.
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