Wednesday, September 18, 2024 - A local babysitter had two newborn babies buried in her garden, an investigation into infanticide revealed.
Chiara Petrolini, 22, was arrested after DNA tests
allegedly confirmed she was the mother of one of the infants, a boy, found
buried in her garden.
Petrolini, who lived with her parents, was described as a
"model university student" and was holidaying in New York when the
grim discovery was made by authorities. The investigation into the garden in
the quiet commune of Vignale di Traversetolo near Parmer in Italy began last
month, August, when Petrolini's grandmother's dog unearthed a body.
The baby had been buried alive, as indicated by "soil
found in the lungs" according to a leaked autopsy report.
Last week, a second body was discovered, but no details
about that infant's death have been disclosed yet.
The autopsy of the first baby revealed that the father was
Petrolini's 22 year old boyfriend, named locally as Emanuele.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the second body was found
after Petrolini confessed to the police.
She is currently in custody on suspicion of infanticide and has reportedly claimed that she acted alone without anyone else's knowledge.
Petrolini, a law student, is believed to have concealed
her pregnancy before inducing labour on 7 August and giving birth
alone at home in her bathroom.
Shortly after the birth, she allegedly k!lled the baby and
hid him in her back garden.
Two days later, she left for a pre-planned holiday to the US
with her parents, the Mirror US reports.
The day she left was when her grandmother's dog unearthed
the body, which was wrapped in a sheet and hidden in a hole in the garden,
according to Italian media.
Initially, the grandmother thought the body was an animal's
and called a neighbour for help.
The neighbour made the horrifying discovery that it was
actually an infant and promptly alerted the police.
While investigating Petrolini's phone and internet history,
the police made the second horrific discovery of another body.
According to Italian newspaper La Repubblica, she allegedly
searched online for ways to terminate "a second child".
Her boyfriend and friends claimed they hadn't noticed
anything unusual about her and were unaware of her pregnancy.
"I didn't know anything, I can't believe it," her
boyfriend told the Italian press.
He expressed that if he had known about the pregnancy, he
could have cared for the child.
"I would have wanted that child, I could have kept him by myself. I'm 22, but I work and my mother would have helped me," he said.
Local media reported that Petrolini hid her pregnancy by
eating very little for months to keep her slim figure, even at full term. A
friend reportedly said that when Petrolini left for holiday, she exhibited
"a calm that now scares me."
"I'm shocked, I had to go over everything step-by-step
because I was questioned by the police," the unnamed friend said. "I
can't get over it, it's as if the world had turned upside down in
front of me."
Parma's local prosecutor has revealed, in a chilling
statement, that an investigation kicked off following the gruesome discovery of
two bodies, pegging Petrolini as the sole suspect.
The prosecutor's words painted a grim picture, noting: “As
far as we can establish the pregnancies were in secret and without the
knowledge of the family or the father of the first child or friends. It would
also appear that no medical facility or doctor was aware of the pregnancies but
investigations continuing.”
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