"I've also been described as a murderer, as a mother who kills her children, but that's not who I am. I never wanted to harm my children."
Chiara Petrolini said this in her spontaneous statements before the Parma Assize Court which is trying her for the premeditated murder and suppression of the bodies of her two newborn children , born in May 2023 and August 2024 and buried in the garden of her home.
In a monotone voice and with only one brief pause, the defendant spoke for about seven minutes, reading from a piece of paper. "Those children were a part of me. I would never have hurt them. It's a suffering that destroys you inside."
"Many people out there described me as a good girl, with family, friends, a boyfriend, who worked and studied, but that was just an appearance. Inside, I felt alone even when I wasn't . It was an empty space that no one could fill. A feeling of unease that accompanied me every day; I felt wrong and judged," the 23-year-old continued.
"I always said I knew I was pregnant," she added, "but because it seemed like the only possible explanation. I never took a pregnancy test, I was never sure I was. There were times when I thought about it more, like when I'd shower and see this belly that no one noticed. Then I did research, but I never took action. I don't know why I did it; I was tired and confused. I didn't think I was pregnant; in my head, I told myself it was impossible, otherwise others would notice. That's why I engaged in behaviors like smoking or drinking. I never felt nauseous, never took medications to bring on labor, never worried about giving birth on a plane."
The conclusion: "Even though I wasn't expecting these two pregnancies, I knew I would keep the children and want to raise them. What I did next was definitely a wrong choice, made without thinking , which I'm starting to recognize today, but at the time, for me, it was the right choice: keeping them close to me, so as not to be separated from them again."
(Unioneonline)
