Elia Del Grande, the 50-year-old who ran away from a workhouse in Castelfranco Emilia on October 30th and is serving a 30-year sentence for the murder of his parents and brother, was tracked down and arrested by the Carabinieri in the municipality of Cadrezzate, in the province of Varese.
The military, supported by the Milan ROS, identified and arrested him at home, in the very town where he grew up and where in 1998 he shot dead his father Enea, his mother Alida, and his brother Enrico, "guilty", he claimed, of opposing his marriage to the young woman originally from Santo Domingo with whom he had fallen in love.
The Sardinian track
His whereabouts in recent days are unknown, and investigators are investigating whether he had an accomplice during his escape or while on the run. Del Grande was also wanted in Sardinia : in addition to his partner from Olbia, he has several acquaintances in Gallura, where he lived for some time.
In 2023, he turned to the Sassari Surveillance Court (he was under house arrest at his home in Telti), denouncing a 25-year stint in Italian prisons, marked by long periods spent in "degrading and inhumane" conditions. These were the same conditions he himself described in a letter to Varese News from an undisclosed location after his escape.
"My action is due to the total inadequacy that incredibly still persists in certain institutions, such as workhouses, which should aim to re-socialize and reintegrate people through work," he wrote, but which "in reality are a recipient of those with psychiatric problems and who have no place in the residences to carry out security measures."
"It's not an escape," he continued, "but simply a simple departure." "I still pay a heavy price for my name and what I did," he concluded. " I'm saddened because it will mean that no matter what punishment someone may pay in this country, you will always remain responsible for the act committed ."
The capture
The escape ended around 8 p.m., two weeks after he was released from the workhouse where he was supposed to spend six months due to repeated violations of his probation regime—40 in total. After those six months, his social dangerousness would be reassessed.
According to rumors, the search continued through phone tracing, leading investigators to the decisive raid. This evening, 112 received reports both of Del Grande's presence, which investigators had already been aware of, and of the military's intervention: an elderly woman reported the presence of five hooded "bandits" near a house, which turned out to be none other than the soldiers preparing for the raid. Del Grande was reportedly apprehended in a lightning-fast move, without having time to react or flee again.
He was then taken to the Carabinieri barracks at the Varese provincial headquarters. He will likely be handed over to the Penitentiary Police in the next few hours for transfer, based on the instructions received from the Modena supervisory magistrate.
The "bakers' massacre"
Del Grande, as was thought, returned to the places in the Varese area where he has roots and ties and where what was dubbed the "baker's massacre" took place: the entire family worked in the bakery they owned, also in Cadrezzate, which still bears the Del Grande sign today.
After 25 years, he received his first benefits, eventually being placed on probation. The Carabinieri had reached him at his home in Cadrezzate on November 23rd to take him to a workhouse near Modena, at the orders of the probation officer. He refused to give up, fleeing across rooftops until they caught him in Besozzo a few hours later and apprehended him.
(Unioneonline/D)