‘Massacro del Circeo’ still haunts Italy after 50 years.
Italy this week marks 50 years since the Circeo Massacre, a horrendous crime that unfolded in a seaside resort south of Rome between 29 and 30 September 1975.
The event involved the kidnapping, torture and rape of two young women from Rome, one of whom was killed.
The two friends, Rosaria Lopez, 19, and Donatella Colasanti, 17, were lured to a villa in San Felice Circeo by three acquaintances: Angelo Izzo, Gianni Guido and Andrea Ghira.
What was promised to be a party turned into a 36-hour nightmare of brutal torture and sexual violence.
Donatella Colasanti and Rosaria Lopez
The men, all from the Roman bourgeoisie and with ties to neo-fascist groups, drugged the two girls before subjecting them to a horrific ordeal.
Lopez was savagely beaten and dragged upstairs where she was drowned in a bathtub.
Colasanti survived by feigning death after being strangled with a belt and beaten with an iron bar.
Believing both women were dead, the perpetrators bundled their bodies into the boot of a car, intending to dispose of them, and drove back to Rome.
Colasanti later recounted that while driving, the trio laughed and joked, saying: “Shut up, we have two bodies on board” and “How well do they sleep?”.
The car was parked on a street on Viale Pola in Rome’s Trieste district while the men went to dinner in a restaurant.
Cinquant’anni fa il massacro del Circeo, una ferita ancora aperta. A Roma l’omaggio delle istituzioni per non dimenticare Rosaria Lopez e Donatella Colasanti.
https://t.co/O9tGjACXeX pic.twitter.com/mFcnc7xPBL
— Tgr Rai (@TgrRai) September 29, 2025
Inside the trunk of the car, despite her severe injuries, Colasanti began to scream for help.
Her cries were heard by a night watchman, who alerted the police.
Colasanti was rushed to hospital with severe injuries sustained in the ordeal which left her with psychological damage from which she never fully recovered.
The discovery of the two girls – one dead, one barely alive – sent shockwaves across the country.
Trial
The subsequent trial became a landmark case, drawing immense public attention and mobilising Italy’s nascent feminist movement.
The case also highlighted a shocking disparity: until 1996, Italian law classified rape as a “crime against public morality” rather than a “crime against the person,” a legal distinction that the feminist movement had long been fighting to change.
Colasanti’s brave testimony was central to the case and helped turn the horrific personal trauma into a powerful political statement.
Aftermath
The three perpetrators were sentenced to life in prison. However, the story did not end there.
Gianni Guido managed to escape from prison, fleeing to Argentina before eventually being recaptured and serving a reduced sentence.
Angelo Izzo was granted semi-liberty in 2005, only to commit another double murder of a mother and daughter. He was sentenced to a second life term.
Andrea Ghira fled to Spain and joined the Spanish Legion under an assumed name. He was never brought to justice and died in 1994, though his death was not confirmed by Italian authorities until 2005.
Donatella Colasanti died on 30 December 2005, aged 47, of breast cancer. Her last words were: “Battiamoci per la verità” (Let us fight for the truth).
Photo Rosaria Lopez
