Forensic Report Challenges Suicide Theory in David Rossi Case
David Rossi was born in Siena on June 2, 1961, and for more than twenty years he was one of the most influential figures in the city. As head of communications at Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, the world’s oldest surviving bank, founded in 1472, he was widely regarded as the right-hand man of Giuseppe Mussari, then president of the MPS Foundation and a central figure in Siena’s economic and political life.
Rossi’s role was far from marginal. He managed an annual budget of several million euros for sponsorships and oversaw relationships with media, political, and judicial figures. In essence, he was a man who knew almost everything that was happening inside and around the historic bank.
The Monte dei Paschi Crisis
To understand Rossi’s death, it is essential to examine the broader context. Between 2007 and 2008, under Mussari and then general director Antonio Vigni, MPS acquired Banca Antonveneta from Spain’s Santander group for more than €16 billion overall, despite a later expert valuation estimating the bank’s worth at just €2.8 billion. The deal, widely considered reckless and overpriced, devastated MPS’s finances and forced it in January 2013 to seek a state bailout, effectively funded by Italian taxpayers.
Judicial investigations focused on this acquisition, as well as on opaque derivative transactions known as “Alexandria” and “Santorini.” On February 19, 2013, Italy’s Guardia di Finanza searched the offices and homes of Mussari and Vigni, and, crucially, also Rossi’s office and house. Rossi, however, was not under investigation.
The Night of 6 March 2013
On Wednesday, 6 March 2013, at around 8:45 pm, an emergency call was made from the bank’s headquarters in Rocca Salimbeni in Siena. David Rossi, 51, was found dead on the cobblestones of Vicolo Monte Pio, beneath the third-floor window of his office in the historic building.
The Siena prosecutor’s office immediately concluded that it was a suicide. The initial legal hypothesis was “incitement to suicide against persons unknown.”
That same evening, three Siena prosecutors, Giuseppe Grosso, Aldo Natalini, and Salvatore Nastasi, entered Rossi’s office before forensic police had photographed and documented the scene.
This access was neither recorded nor formally noted, an irregularity that would weigh heavily on the investigation. Years later, the Genoa prosecutor’s office ruled that the magistrates’ conduct did not constitute a crime.
From the very beginning, several elements appeared difficult to reconcile with the suicide theory.
Rossi’s body showed bruises and unusual lesions. In particular, injuries to his arms were described by the family’s lawyers as inconsistent with self-inflicted wounds. The distribution and shape of the marks appeared reversed compared to what would be expected in self-inflicted cuts. No in-depth official investigation was ever conducted on these injuries.
Surveillance cameras recorded that Rossi did not die immediately after the fall but remained alive on the pavement for about twenty minutes. Approximately five to twenty minutes after the fall, his watch was thrown from the same office window. At the time of the fall, the watch was not on his wrist. This remains one of the most troubling details of the case. Who was in the office, and why throw the watch afterward?
Camera footage showed two individuals approaching Rossi while he was still alive, then leaving without providing assistance or calling emergency services.
A vehicle was parked in Vicolo Monte Pio, partially obstructing access and visibility in the alley.
Two days before his death, Rossi exchanged a series of emails with Fabrizio Viola, then CEO of MPS. The conversation, lasting from 9 am to 5 pm, concerned the ongoing judicial investigation. Rossi appeared visibly anxious, writing phrases such as, “Can I speak to you about this morning’s issue? It’s urgent. Tomorrow might be too late.”
At 10:13 am, an email appeared in which Rossi allegedly announced his intention to commit suicide. Viola later stated he did not recall that message. Moreover, the exchange continued normally afterward, as if nothing had happened.
According to some reconstructions, Rossi told his wife he was coming home, an unusual statement if one assumes a premeditated suicide.
Two Dismissals and a Parliamentary Commission
The Siena prosecutor’s investigations were dismissed twice, both times concluding that Rossi had taken his own life. The reasoning largely relied on a presumed state of “depression and anguish,” considered consistent with suicide.
Rossi’s family, his widow Antonella Tognazzi and his daughter Carolina Orlandi, who published a book in 2018 titled Se tu potessi vedermi ora, have always rejected this reconstruction. Over the years, investigative reports by television programs such as Le Iene, Non è l’Arena, and Sedici Storie reignited public debate, highlighting unresolved details.
On March 11, 2021, the Italian Chamber of Deputies established a parliamentary commission of inquiry into Rossi’s death, tasked with reconstructing the facts, causes, and possible third-party responsibilities. Among its members was Carlo Nordio, later appointed Minister of Justice.
New Expert Reports Exclude Suicide
In 2024 and 2025, the parliamentary commission heard forensic experts who conducted new analyses with striking conclusions.
According to these new reports, the injuries to Rossi’s face were not caused by the fall but by compression against the window frame itself. Experiments conducted with mannequins confirmed compatibility between the facial marks and violent contact with the window.
Specifically, Rossi appears to have suffered forceful compression against anti-bird wires and a metal bar on the window. Cuts on his lip and nose would have resulted from this pressure, while puncture wounds were attributed to the wire terminals. For the two experts, these injuries were clearly consistent with “the dynamics of a struggle.”
When asked whether the evidence was still compatible with suicide, expert Manghi described that possibility as “almost impossible.” For suicide to be plausible, Rossi would have had to voluntarily press his face against the metal elements of the window, a scenario deemed highly unlikely.
The Murder Hypothesis and Dark Leads
Over time, disturbing hypotheses have emerged. One of the most sensational, though never judicially confirmed, concerns alleged involvement of organized crime. Reports surfaced that Giandavide De Pau, former driver of Camorra boss Michele Senese and later accused of triple homicide, allegedly claimed responsibility for Rossi’s murder. His defense lawyer requested that two judicial police officers who spoke with De Pau in 2019 while he was detained be heard as witnesses.
Speculation has also touched on possible links to political networks and powerful circles connected to the bank. None of these claims has so far found confirmation in court.
At one point, a magistrate investigating the case received a death threat in the form of an unexploded 9mm bullet.
The Email Trial and Related Proceedings
The case also generated collateral legal proceedings. Rossi’s widow Antonella Tognazzi and journalist Davide Vecchi, author of Il caso David Rossi. Il suicidio imperfetto del manager Monte dei Paschi di Siena, were tried for publishing the emails Rossi had sent to the CEO. Years later, Siena’s chief prosecutor apologized to the widow for bringing the case against her.
Journalists from Le Iene also faced legal tensions. Following complaints by Siena magistrates, the Genoa prosecutor’s office opened an investigation, searched the home of correspondent Antonino Monteleone, and charged him with aggravated defamation.
A Case Still Open
More than twelve years after his death, the David Rossi case remains one of the darkest unresolved mysteries in recent Italian history. Some have compared it to the deaths of Roberto Calvi and Raul Gardini, men who knew too much and died under opaque circumstances at moments when their silence was worth more than their words.
The new expert reports, which exclude suicide, demand renewed reflection on what happened at Rocca Salimbeni that March evening in 2013. The parliamentary commission continues its work. The truth, if it ever emerges, may concern not only the death of one man but also the deeper mechanisms of power that governed one of Italy’s oldest and most controversial financial institutions.
David Rossi had told his wife he was coming home. He never made it.
Ph: monteleone.substack
