"I killed a Christian": the Varcaturo crime, the confession in the car, and the shadow of blackmail.

Giugliano – A murky and degrading relationship, born under the lights of a slot machine parlor and consumed with doses of cocaine purchased in the Traiano district, rivers of grappa, and paid sexual services. It is in this context of profound fragility and abuse that the murder of Ferdinando Formisano unfolded. The 68-year-old man was found dead on April 9, 2025, in the bedroom of his home on Via Vicinale Amodio, in Varcaturo.

More than a year after the investigation, Dr. Ilaria Giuliano, Preliminary Investigations Judge of the Court of Naples North, signed a pre-trial detention order against Davide Garbetta, a 25-year-old from Giugliano. For investigators from the Carabinieri NOR unit in Giugliano, there is no doubt: he was the one who attacked, beat, and suffocated the 68-year-old during a heated argument, then fled with €15 and the victim's cell phone.

The macabre discovery and the staging

The alarm was raised on the morning of April 9th ​​by a friend of the victim. Concerned because Formisano was no longer answering her calls, the woman went to the scene with a spare set of keys, along with a neighbor. The scene before them and the Carabinieri was grim: the ground floor was completely ransacked, the kitchen drawers emptied, and upstairs, Formisano's body lying on the bed, naked, his face purple and disfigured from the beatings. Next to the body was a nearly empty bottle of grappa.

From the initial investigations, it was clear that this was not a robbery perpetrated by unknown assailants: there were no signs of forced entry on the doors or windows. Formisano's killer had entered with his consent.

The cameras, the cell phone and the "Davide" trail

Footage from local video surveillance systems closed in on the killer within hours. The cameras captured a slim young man entering the private park at 01:45 AM and leaving at exactly 02:17 AM. At the same time, security cameras at a garden center on Via San Nullo captured a dark Lancia Ypsilon—a vehicle later found to be owned by Garbetta—heading toward State Road 7 Quater.

Confirming the killer's escape was the discovery of Formisano's phone, recovered that evening by officers in the bushes of the SS7 Quater highway, between the Monteruscello and Lago d'Averno exits. Analysis of the phone traffic revealed a dense network of contacts (over 350 interactions, including calls and messages, since December 2024) between the victim and a phone card used by Garbetta. Testimonies from Formisano's friends revealed that the 68-year-old frequented this young man, whom he met at a slot machine parlor, exchanging money or drugs in exchange for intimate encounters. This was an instrumental and asymmetrical relationship: Formisano sought affection and companionship, while Garbetta demanded financial resources and substance.

"I killed a Christian": the shocking wiretaps

The key evidence that incriminated the 25-year-old came from wiretaps placed inside his car. On May 12, 2025, during an argument with his girlfriend, Garbetta, pressed by her questions, made a chilling confession:

«I killed a Christian because I was bringing him something… I slammed him against the furniture, I hit him with a fist and I put my hands on his neck and they found him dead the next day at home».

The wiretapped conversations reveal a dramatic confrontation with his girlfriend, who was shocked by what had happened and by the fact that the young man had continued dealing drugs: "I always told you: I want to stay away from all this shit! […] You didn't give a damn!" And Garbetta responded: "I needed the money... it was necessary."

The holes in the story and the forensic medical reports

Under questioning on May 30, 2026, Davide Garbetta attempted to downplay the incident, offering a version riddled with denials and contradictions. He claimed the argument broke out after sexual intercourse because the victim "wanted to act the man," and he resisted. He later admitted to punching him, rummaging through the house for cash (finding just 15 euros, which he used shortly thereafter to buy a dose of cocaine in Fuorigrotta), and throwing away his cell phone and apartment keys.

The forensic reports signed by Dr. Barbato refuted the defense's claims of accidental death: Formisano's death was caused by cardiac arrest due to acute pulmonary edema, triggered by violent mechanical asphyxia due to suffocation. The victim's cardiac weakness and cocaine use rendered the combined action of punches to the face, neck restraints, or the use of a pillow (found blood-soaked on the bed) lethal.

The precautionary measure: "Violent and alarming personality"

In ordering his pre-trial detention in prison—on charges of voluntary homicide with the aggravating circumstance of futile or abject motives and burglary—GIP Ilaria Giuliano emphasized Garbetta's marked social danger, having already been held under pre-trial detention in a rehabilitation center in Eboli for another proceeding.

The grounds for the warrant state that the young man acted with "absolute nonchalance" and a "necandi animus," evident from the force of the blows and the lack of any attempt to help the victim, who was left dying on the floor while the attacker searched the rooms for a few coins. This clinical and circumstantial evidence made the maximum prison sentence necessary.