Only female profiles were found on the underwear of Manuela Murgia, the 16-year-old who died on February 4, 1995, and was found lifeless at the foot of Tuvixeddu. In her sweater, however, the biological traces found by the Cagliari RIS (Italian Special Investigative Unit) revealed DNA fragments compatible with both her ex-boyfriend Enrico Astero, now under investigation for murder, and the girl herself. Therefore, it is currently unclear who those traces belong to. Further investigations will be necessary. Meanwhile, yesterday, the Carabinieri took blood samples from both the young woman's mother and close family members, in order to continue the comparison.
These are the leaks that have filtered out in the last few hours regarding the technical tests ordered by investigating judge Giorgio Altieri in preparation for the preliminary hearing scheduled for December 11th. For months now, the RIS (Italian Special Investigative Committee for the Investigation of Criminal Investigation) has been examining the clothes worn by the girl on the day of her death, recovered after thirty years by officers of the Flying Squad in the former Forensic Medicine department of the Macciotta Clinic. They had been sealed during the autopsy and were thus found.
At the moment, the only complete profile found is a male hair and a female DNA: the first was compared by the RIS with the biological profile of Astero who, in the meantime, had performed the test with his consultant, confirming that there were no elements of compatibility.
On the 16-year-old's underwear, only female traces were found, while on the sweater, about ten biological traces have already been typed and compared: portions of the profile match both the suspect and the alleged victim. This is because, apparently, the sequences are too short, thus not sufficient to confirm the identity of the suspect. However, the RIS (Italian Investigative Service) is continuing its investigations.
Francesco Pinna
