Isabella Mueller (crime writer)
On 5 March 2016, Rome was confronted with one of the most brutal murders in its history: in a run-down flat in the Collatino district, the Carabinieri found the lifeless body of 23-year-old Luca Varani, stabbed over 100 times with a kitchen knife still lodged in his chest. The shocking case involving the two perpetrators, Manuel Foffo and Marco Prato, shows just how far people can go in their darkness, driven by drugs and a cold, inexplicable urge. Manuel Foffo was a 28-year-old student who had dropped out of university; his privileged background, coming from a wealthy family, did not prevent him from falling into the abyss. His father was a wealthy insurance broker and restaurant owner. Manuel had been experimenting with drugs and alcohol for several months prior to the night of the murder. His latest clinical tests had come back clear, and his driving licence had been returned to him. Marco Prato, aged 29 and a graduate of the Sorbonne, was someone who had made a name for himself as an events organiser. He came from a wealthy family; his father worked in the cultural sector. Marco had a special relationship with Manuel, based on mysterious and possibly twisted ties. The two had met on New Year’s Eve 2016. It was a fateful encounter that had tragic consequences. Manuel later admitted that he was afraid of Marco after the latter had made a compromising video of them, showing both of them having sex. Manuel, the failed student, and Marco, the gay party animal who played the womaniser to the outside world, turned out to be two lost souls who struck a pact that would change their lives forever. In early March, both men spent days on end taking drugs and drinking alcohol. Whilst under the influence, they had only one goal: they wanted to know what it felt like to kill. Their victim was Luca Varani, aged just 23. A young man who was an adopted child originally from the former Yugoslavia. He had been with his girlfriend, Marta Gaia, for nine years. Luca had dropped out of school to earn money so that he could start a family with Marta. He had held numerous jobs, but also worked secretly as a male prostitute. This lucrative side job proved to be Luca’s undoing. As a result, he was unwittingly drawn into a monstrous game played out by the two men, who had only one thing on their minds: to torture and kill him. The night between 3 and 4 March 2016 was boisterous and fuelled by intoxication. Manuel and Marco had been partying for days in Manuel’s flat, taking cocaine, and had decided to do something terrible. All they needed was a victim, and that victim turned out to be Luca, whom Manuel invited to his flat via WhatsApp. He offered him 100 euros for sexual favours. Luca, who was always short of cash, agreed, and so fate took its course. At Manuel’s flat, they offered him alcoholic drinks laced with Alcover, a medication used to treat alcohol dependence which has an extremely sedative effect on the body. As the unsuspecting Luca undressed for the sexual acts, his vision suddenly went black. This allowed Manuel and Marco to carry out their sinister plans. Following a brutal attack with a hammer and a kitchen knife, they began to torture him mercilessly for hours on end. Manuel later reported that they did not want Luca to be able to scream, which is why they cut his vocal cords. The post-mortem confirmed the cruelty of the crime. Dozens of wounds, particularly to the face and neck, bore witness to unimaginable brutality. How can anyone do such a thing? The thirst for power and control can reach unimaginable proportions, as this case so vividly demonstrates. After the murder, Manuel and Marco tried to cover their tracks. They cleaned the crime scene and disposed of Luca’s clothes. It was only hours later, as they wandered through the city’s bars, that the full realisation of what they had done slowly dawned on them. Marco, plagued by guilt, expressed a desire to take his own life. The two parted ways and went their separate ways. Whilst Marco eventually attempted to commit suicide at the Hotel San Giusta, Manuel returned home to try to come to terms with the horror. Forty-eight hours after the murder, Manuel confessed to his father what had happened. Following this grim confession, Manuel’s father immediately alerted the Carabinieri. Shortly afterwards, Marco was found unconscious in his hotel room by the Italian police. He had taken an overdose of sleeping tablets. His stomach was pumped immediately. This was only the beginning of a long legal process. In December 2016, the public prosecutor’s office pressed charges of murder and particularly grave culpability against both of them. Manuel opted for an expedited trial, whilst Marco preferred a full court hearing. This led to a controversial debate in the media. Politicians and journalists were divided in their opinions. Carlo Giovanardi drew a link between the perpetrators’ sexuality and their cruelty, which provoked fierce opposition. Ivan Scalfarotto, a politician from the Democratic Party, criticised these stereotypes and defended the LGBTQ+ community. Manuel was eventually sentenced to 30 years in prison, whilst Marco, who was suffering under the pressure of public attention, took his own life in his cell at Velletri prison shortly before the trial began. It was a tragic end for two lives that had spiralled into the abyss, and for Luca’s life, which ended far too soon. The case of Luca Varani’s murder is not merely a story of murder and cruelty. It raises deeper questions about mental health, the influence of drugs, and the responsibility each individual bears for their actions. What drives people to commit such crimes? Is it a search for meaning, or simply a desperate attempt to numb feelings of pain and inner emptiness? Society faces the challenge not only of viewing such cases as isolated incidents, but also of understanding the roots of violence amongst our young people, within social structures and in individual life stories. Luca Varani, who was brutally torn from life far too soon, sheds light on the shadows lurking in the corners of our community.
