They operate in the dark, they are agile, silent and swift. They reach their objective and then there is no doubt or hesitation. They grab the hammer, seize the awl and drive it into the victim’s head. That is how Don Armando Bison dies, in Trento, on the evening of 26 February 1983. It is one of the most chilling murders reported in the Italian news, signed by a pseudonym that is etched in our memories: Ludwig. Its brutality is on a par with the murders of the Monster of Florence, as is its ritualistic style. Only unlike those killings, these ones have culprits who are found, tried and convicted of murder and carnage. They were two brilliant university students who never admitted their responsibility. But other elements suggest that someone else, who has never been identified, may have been involved. So what was Ludwig? A pair of serial killers, a Neo-Nazi organisation or a kind of sect? Roberto Fagiolo reconstructs its every detail with precision.
Roberto Fagiolo, a television writer, has worked for Italian national TV (RAI) for many years, and was one of
the authors of the programme Sfide. Since 2013 he has
worked as an author for the history channel RAI Storia on
the programmes Il tempo e la storia, Italiani e poi and Passato
e Presente, presented by Paolo Mieli. Nutrimenti published
his Bottecchia l’inafferrabile (with Francesco Graziani, 2005),
L’ombra del Caravaggio (2007), Il segreto perduto di Schliemann
(2008), Topografia del caso Moro (2018), Chi ha ammazzato Pecorelli (2019), Come svanì Emanuela (2020) and La piovra nera (2022).
Pub date: July 2024
Length: 192 pp