Italian Serial Killer Roberto Succo: "I Am a Killer. I Kill People."

Mestre, Italy, is a mere six miles away from Venice and has been called Venice's "dormitory town" as a large percentage of the people who work in Venice choose to commute the easy six miles twice a day while living in Mestre. It is a working class town and noteworthy things hardly ever happen there. But the killing spree that Roberto Succo engaged in, starting with the murder of his parents in Mestre, must, unfortunately, be classed as noteworthy.

Roberto Succo has the unfortunate distinction of having been Public Enemy Number 1 in France, Italy and the Swiss Confederation. His murderous career began in April 1981 when, while still in high school, he fatally stabbed his mother, stabbed and then strangled his father and then placed their bodies in their bathtub and tried to hide them by covering them with water and lime. Later, he would give his reasons for these horrendous crimes as his parents' being too overbearing and not wanting to lend him their car.

After he killed his parents, he took the car that he had so coveted, his father's Alfa Romeo Alfasud, but he did not have it for long as the police caught up with him only two days later. After being declared insane, he was sentenced to ten years in the psychiatric prison at Reggio Emilia. He quickly became bored with the monotony of prison life and decided to finish high school and then to obtain a degree in political science.

He escaped from the prison in May 1986 after being temporarily released to write an examination, and went to France where he began a killing spree that spread across Europe. No one was safe and his crimes ranged across at least four countries as he hijacked, assaulted and killed people without regard for age, gender or occupation.

It was, ironically, in his home town of Mestre that authorities finally caught up with him and he was arrested for a second time in February 1988. During his initial interrogation by the police, he was asked for details of his profession and he answered simply: "I am a killer. I kill people.". Not one to let life pass him by, he escaped again during March 1988 but was also caught again after he fell off the prison roof while staging a spectacle for the press. He broke three ribs and his shoulder in this attempt to gain publicity for his plight; he had hoped that he would, once again, be declared insane and sentenced to more time in the psychiatric hospital. When this did not work, he opted for a more permanent type of escape and committed suicide during May 1988 by gassing himself in his cell.

A serial killer qualified for a degree in political science? It does make you think, doesn't it?

Sources:
Roberto Succo Wikipedia
Pascale Froment Roberto Succo: Histoire Vrai D'un Assassin Sans Raison Affaires Criminelles
Sara di Marzio Roberto Succo Occhirossi
Roberto Succo SpeedyLook
Roberto Succo Nivis-Regnum Italian Gothic Portal