The escape of Elia Del Grande , the 50-year-old from Cadrezzate, known for being the perpetrator of the "bakers' massacre", ended in the Varese area. He had not returned on Sunday 5 April from the Easter leave that had allowed him to leave the workhouse in Alba where he was supposed to spend six months working as a volunteer in a soup kitchen.
Del Grande was stopped today around 1:30 PM by the Carabinieri in Varano Borghi, just a short distance from the town where Del Grande was born and raised and where on January 7, 1998, he murdered his family, killing his father, mother, and brother.
The man was driving a Fiat 500 stolen shortly before in Sesto Calende . Patrols intercepted him along Provincial Road 18. Noticing the stop, Del Grande attempted to flee but was quickly apprehended.
Del Grande was then arrested for resisting a public official and causing personal injury: during his attempted escape he injured a policeman.
In recent days, "Dentro la notizia" on Canale 5 aired a telephone interview with Rossella Piras , Elia del Grande's Sardinian partner. "I know nothing," she declared regarding the escape. "I spoke to him when he was in prison. He was supposed to be released, and I already had my suitcase packed. The agreement was that he would arrive in Sardinia for six months under probation, after which he would return home ." Regarding Elia Del Grande's alleged dangerousness, the woman then added: "Don't tell me he was dangerous, because I slept with him and I know him very well, and the dangerousness is something else entirely." "The magistrate didn't say he was socially dangerous," she concluded. "He wanted to lock him up because he thought he wasn't ready to be out. This is pure harassment."
