1978

March 10, Turin
Rosario Berardi, 41, Marshal of Public Security

The murder of Rosario Berardi was committed in Turin on March 10, 1978 by the Turin column of the terrorist organization of the Red Brigades. That morning on the other side of the road in wide Belgium there was a blue Fiat 128 with four people on board, three men and a woman; seeing Berardi arriving, the three men got out of the vehicle; one, armed with a machine gun, initially walked a few steps and approached the gas station, while the other two crossed the roadway and took them close to the marshal who was stopped with the pipe in his mouth waiting for the tram along with the other people. The two men immediately began firing pistols at the marshal who was shot in the back by three shots; as he fell to the ground he tried to instinctively repair his face with his hands; the attackers resumed shooting at the victim on the ground hitting him with four more blows to the head and arms. Meanwhile, the machine gunman had in turn approached the other accomplices and threatened with his weapon the other people who were terrified by the dramatic scene. In a few moments one of the bombers picked up the bag of Marshal Berardi which contained in addition to the ordinance gun identity documents and an agenda with the names and numbers of his colleagues, then the three went back to the waiting blue Fiat 128 and quickly moved away from the place of the ambushing and made them lose their tracks.

The murder took place on the eve of the new session of the trial that has been going on in Turin for almost two years against the so-called “historical nucleus” of the Red Brigades, and provoked great emotion and bewilderment among the authorities and public opinion. Starting from the testimony of Patrizio Peci, one of the brigadists who made up the armed nucleus responsible for the ambushing, the investigators were able to clarify the details of the attack and identify those responsible: Cristoforo Piancone “Sergio”, Vincenzo Acella “Filippo”, Patrizio Peci “Mauro” and Nadia Ponti “Marta”, they were all arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment.