Review court upholds detention and mafia method

The Rome Review Court rejected an appeal by defense lawyers for businessman Valter Lavitola on 10 September 2026, maintaining his pretrial detention and confirming the aggravating circumstance of mafia method. Lavitola confessed to commissioning a bomb attack targeting Italian investigative journalist Sigfrido Ranucci in Pomezia in October 2025. The judges dismissed a formal request to grant him house arrest in the southern town of Noepoli in Basilicata. Lavitola remains incarcerated at Rome's Rebibbia prison, where he has been held for one month. His defense team, led by lawyers Sergio Cola and Arturo Cola, announced an immediate appeal to the Court of Cassation against the preliminary investigating judge's rejection of their motion regarding the loss of efficacy of pretrial custody.

Defense strategy and courtroom statements

During a court hearing on Monday, Lavitola offered spontaneous statements detailing his relationship with Ranucci and his role in the attack. He stated that a deep friendship existed between them and explained that he hoped the relationship would rehabilitate his public reputation and provide social redemption. Lavitola reaffirmed full responsibility for instigating the plot and hiring middleman Clesio Gomes Tavares, but insisted that the choice to deploy a bomb belonged entirely to Gomes Tavares. Lavitola claimed he gave Tavares an open mandate while explicitly instructing him not to harm anyone. Defense attorneys argued that house arrest in Noepoli, located in the Pollino National Park outside Lazio and Campania, would keep him far from his network of contacts and eliminate any risk of escape.

“The Review Court confirmed the precautionary order. Clearly we fully respect the decisions of the judiciary, even if we do not agree with them at all, both in fact and in law. We will now wait for the reasons to be filed within 45 days, but today we will already file an appeal to the Court of Cassation, per saltum, against the preliminary investigating judge's order that rejected our request regarding the loss of efficacy of pretrial detention, which we believe is well founded.”

Gaps in digital records and expanding probes

Investigators are analyzing digital hardware seized from Lavitola and four individuals accused of acting as material executors in the Pomezia attack. Technical specialists examining the smartphones and computers have nearly completed their advisory report for the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office, noting that data stored on one of Lavitola's phones is particularly voluminous. Forensic screening revealed temporal gaps and suspicious message deletions in chats between Lavitola and Ranucci both before and after the explosion took place. Investigative units of the Carabinieri from Rome and Frascati are carrying out further checks on these deleted exchanges. Following the Review Court's decision, Rome Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi instructed the Anti-Mafia District Directorate to open additional investigation strands into Lavitola's broader financial operations, including carbon credit business ventures in Africa.

International manhunt and related testimonies

Rome prosecutors are preparing an extradition request for Gomes Tavares, a Cameroonian national who is currently a fugitive in Africa and viewed by investigators as the operational link between Lavitola and the execution team. Prosecutors are completing French translations of the judicial case file to initiate international letters rogatory required for extradition. The broader investigation also touches on acquaintances connected to the case. Lavitola's former wife, Natàlia Potenza, indicated her willingness to provide information to magistrates, but the prosecutor's office at Piazzale Clodio has not scheduled a hearing or received formal depositions. Reports indicate Potenza received a copy of the custody order against the four executors from Laura Cianfoni between 4 July and 5 July, though Cianfoni has similarly not been summoned for questioning.