Donato Bilancia

Donato Bilancia
Born(1951-07-10)10 July 1951
Potenza, Italy
Died17 December 2020(2020-12-17) (aged 69)
Padua, Italy
Other namesThe Liguria Monster
Killer on the trains
Walter
Conviction(s)12 April 2000
Criminal penalty13 terms of life imprisonment
Details
Victims17
Span of crimes
October 1997  –  April 1998 (6 months and 5 days)
CountryItaly
Date apprehended
6 May 1998

Donato Bilancia (10 July 1951 – 17 December 2020) was an Italian serial killer who murdered seventeen people – nine women and eight men – on the Italian Riviera in the period from October 1997 to April 1998.[1]

Bilancia's inconsistent modus operandi made him difficult to identify and capture. There were no obvious links between the majority of his murders. He chose most of his victims at random, across a vast area of Northern Italy, and became a synonym for fear among the people living along the Italian Riviera. He was given the nicknames Mostro della Liguria ("The Liguria Monster") and L'assassino dei treni ("Killer on the trains").

Initially attributed with only nine homicides by the Italian police, Bilancia later confessed to having killed eight other people. With a sentence to 13 terms of life imprisonment, and no possibility of release, Bilancia has been defined by some newspapers as "the worst serial killer in the history of Italy".[2][3][4][5] Despite confessing to the killings, Bilancia never explicitly regretted his crimes, claiming that he did not consciously commit them because he was "possessed" by a disease. Bilancia died on 17 December 2020, in prison, from COVID-19.[5][6][7]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference BP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Donato Bilancia è uscito dal carcere. Primo permesso per il serial killer dopo 20 anni" [Donato Bilancia released from prison. First permit for serial killer after 20 years]. Blitz Quotidiano (in Italian). 16 November 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  3. ^ "Bilancia esce di prigione: primo permesso dopo 20 anni per il serial killer genovese" [Bilancia gets out of prison: first permit after 20 years for serial killer from Genoa]. Il Secolo XIX (in Italian). 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 12 October 2018. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  4. ^ "No motive found as Italy's worst serial killer gets life". The Guardian. 14 April 2000. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  5. ^ a b "Morto Donato Bilancia, serial killer di treni: aveva Covid" [Donato Bilancia dead, serial killer on trains: he had Covid]. Corriere della Sera (in Italian). 17 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  6. ^ "Morto Donato Bilancia, il serial killer delle prostitute" [Donato Bilancia dead, serial killer of prostitutes]. la Repubblica (in Italian). 17 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  7. ^ "Italian serial killer Bilancia dies of COVID – reports". Inquirer. 18 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.