Circumstances of the discovery

Emergency crews were called to a ground-floor home in Riposto around 04:30 on Sunday, 23 August 2026, after neighbours noticed barking dogs and smoke rising from the property. Firefighters entered the building to extinguish a fire concentrated near the entrance area. Inside a ground-floor bedroom, responders located the body of 33-year-old Noemi Impellizzeri hanged. Her body was blackened by smoke but untouched by flames, and investigators found no suicide note on the premises. The initial hypothesis considered suicide, but inconsistencies at the scene prompted prosecutors in Catania to open a broader inquiry into a possible staged killing.

Suspect named in formal inquiry

Prosecutors formally placed 49-year-old Tony Proietto under investigation for murder on 27 August 2026. Judicial authorities characterized the registration as a procedural necessity to conduct non-repeatable forensic tests, noting that an autopsy performed at the Policlinico di Catania yielded inconclusive findings open to multiple interpretations. Investigators seized the man's mobile phone to verify call records and timestamps. His defence attorney, Ivan Siragusa, stated that his client has cooperated fully with authorities, handed over his devices, and faces no precautionary detention measures.

“My client is under investigation because he was identified as the person who had the last meetings with the deceased. From the beginning, he has cooperated with investigators, provided detailed information, and handed over phones and materials to allow all necessary checks.”

Conflicting accounts and sequence of events

During questioning, Proietto denied being in a romantic relationship with the victim, asserting that he is married with two children and acted only as a supportive friend. He told investigators that Impellizzeri contacted him via video call on the Friday evening before her death, stating an intention to commit suicide, displaying a rope, and mentioning she needed to look up a knot on YouTube. Proietto claimed he dismissed the conversation as a joke and did not take it seriously.

“If I had thought her intentions were serious, I would have gone there to do everything possible. The way she spoke to me, when she told me I found the rope and it is useless for you to come here or tell my family, made me believe it was a joke.”

Proietto stated that after receiving no replies to messages sent the next day, he went to her house around 02:00, found her dead, and did not immediately call emergency services because he felt guilty and believed she had already been dead for 24 hours. Instead, he attempted to reach her relatives before returning to the scene with the victim's mother as firefighters arrived.

Family response and community funeral

Funeral services for Impellizzeri were held on the afternoon of 27 August 2026 at the Basilica di San Pietro in Riposto, drawing a large crowd of local residents. The victim was the mother of three children, including 14-year-old twin boys and a 12-year-old daughter, who reside with their maternal grandmother. Family members publicly rejected the hypothesis of suicide, maintaining that she had never expressed self-harm intentions and pointing to physical anomalies in how she was found. Prosecutors and carabinieri continue to analyze forensic evidence and electronic data to determine whether third parties contributed to her death.