Forensic Science International 185 (2009) e7–e11

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Forensic Science International

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Case report

A serial killer of elderly women: Analysis of a multi-victim homicide investigation

Carlo P. Campobasso a,*, Massimo F. Colonna b, Felice Carabellese c, Ignazio Grattagliano c,
Chiara Candelli c, Robert J. Morton d, Roberto Catanesi c
a
Department of Health Sciences (S.pe.S), University of Molise, via De Sanctis, 86100 Campobasso, Italy
b
Section of Legal Medicine (DI.M.I.M.P.), University of Bari, Policlinico, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy
c
Section of Forensic Psychiatry (DI.M.I.M.P.), University of Bari, Policlinico, Piazza Giulio Cesare, 70124 Bari, Italy
d
Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, Behavioral Analysis Unit, FBI Academy, Quantico, VA, USA

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: Between 1995 and 1997, in the territories of Southern Italy, there were fifteen murders of elderly women
Received 10 July 2008 over the age of 70 years old. Initially, however, not all the murders were attributed to a single serial killer.
Received in revised form 12 November 2008 The majority of the victims were stabbed multiple times in the neck, except for three cases in which the
Accepted 22 December 2008
cause of death was manual strangulation. There was evidence of sexual assault in only one of the cases.
Available online 7 February 2009
All the victims were discovered in their own apartments, which were located on the ground level, with
no signs of forced entry. In most of the cases, the offender stole money and/or jewellery. A multi-
Keywords:
disciplinary team reviewed the cases during the investigation and created a profile of the killer. The team
Serial murder
determined that the method of operation was completely unusual for the local criminal element. They
Multi-victim homicide investigation
Stab wounds suggested that the perpetrator could be an immigrant, who committed the murders for sexual
Serial killer motivation and who may have been arrested previously for sex-related incidents. On 15th September
Criminal profiling 1997, a suspect was arrested. He was identified as Ben Mohamed Ezzedine Sebai, a 35-year-old white
male, originally from Tunisia. He was charged and convicted of four of the murders and was given a life
sentence. In 2005, Sebai confessed to the murders of four additional elderly women, for which nine other
people had already been previously tried and convicted, among them, a man who committed suicide in
jail. In 2007, Sebai finally confessed to committing fifteen murders that occurred between 1995 and
1997. Sebai also admitted to experiencing sexual gratification at every homicide scene, even though
there was no physical proof at most of the crime scenes. The goal of this article is to illustrate a little-
known but noteworthy case concerning a serial sexual killer of elderly women that occurred in Southern
Italy, highlighting the method of operation, the victim selection process, and the injuries inflicted. The
article will also discuss his motivation, the mental health history of the offender, his clinical diagnosis,
and his self-reported childhood abuse.
ß 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction offender and the victims, insufficient communication between

Serial murders are relatively rare events and because of this
serial murder investigations present many significant challenges
to criminal justice professionals. The rarity of serial murder
hinders the identification of a serial murder series by the public
officials involved in the case, because there is a limited under-
standing of the unique nature of serial killers. Coupled with this,
there are other investigative factors that hamper the linkage of a
murder series to a single murderer. These include limited physical
evidence, the absence of personal relationships between the
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0874 404 776; fax: +39 0874 404 778.
E-mail addresses: carlo.campobasso@unimol.it, cpcarlo@yahoo.com
(C.P. Campobasso).
different law enforcement and/or judicial jurisdictions, and limited
investigative experience in dealing with these types of crimes. All
of these issues lead to a lack of recognition by authorities that a
serial murderer is active and operating in their jurisdiction [1–3].
2. Case history
Ben Mohamed Ezzedine Sebai, was originally from Kairouan
(Tunisia), and in 1990, he immigrated illegally to Italy. In 1991, he
was charged with attempted murder and rape by the police
headquarters of Bolzano (Northern Italy) and they issued an
expulsion order. Sebai fled before trial and took refuge in the
province of Foggia (Southern Italy), where he worked occasionally
as farm labourer. Between 1996 and 1997, in the Apulia territories
of Southern Italy there were twelve homicides of elderly women

0379-0738/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.forsciint.2008.12.023
e8 C.P. Campobasso et al. / Forensic Science International 185 (2009) e7–e11

Table 1
Elderly women aged over 70 and stabbed multiple times on the neck as listed in the territories of Southern Italy between 1996 and 1997.

Case # Date Name Age City # of stab wounds on the neck

L side Anterior R side TOTt

1 24 April 1996 MC 81 Lucera 1 1

2 29 May 1996 GG 72 S. Ferdinando 15 2 17
3 10 August 1996 SA 85 Ginosa 4 4
4 15 January 1997 TM 75 Cerignola 1 10 11
5 04 April 1997 MG 75 Massafra 1 1
6 01 May 1997 SA 70 Trinitapoli 1 1
7 09 May 1997 LS 82 Canosa 8 8
8 14 May 1997 LPR 86 Castellaneta 3 3
9 29 July 1997 VM 83 Palagiano 15 6 4 25
10 21 August 1997 LL 90 Laterza 2 2
11 27 August 1997 SA 84 Spinazzola 5 5
12 16 September 1997 NL 75 Palagianello 5 5

# TOT 49 23 6 78

and 9 victims in 1997. All 12 of the victims were stabbed in the

Fig. 1. Areas where the victims were killed, along two main areas of the Apulia
territories under the jurisdiction of three different Tribunals.
over the age of 70. The murders were committed in two main areas
of Apulia territories: the Province of Foggia at north and the
Province of Taranto, which is located approximately 300 km south
of Foggia (Fig. 1). These territories are under the jurisdiction of
three different tribunals: the Tribunal of Foggia and the Tribunal
of Lucera at north and the Tribunal of Taranto at south. The
distribution of the victims chronologically was 3 victims in 1996
neck. Table 1 shows the list of the 12 victims describing the age of
the victim, the city where the crime occurred and the number of
stab wounds. The highest number of stab wounds listed in a single
case was 25. In three of the cases, the number of stab wounds were
more than 10. In the rest of the cases, the number of stab wounds
were less than 5, with three cases having a single injury. Regardless
of the number of stab wounds, most of the injuries were located on
the left side of the neck. In the twelve murders, a total of 49 out of
the 78 stab wounds inflicted were located on the left side of the
neck and were distributed among ten of the cases. In two cases,
stab wounds were observed on the right side of the neck. Fig. 2
details some of the features observed among the cases with stab
wounds to the neck. These wounds are mostly shallow and angled,
consistent with being inflicted from the front by a right-handed
individual. A knife was never recovered at any of the crime scenes,
as the offender took the weapon from the scene. Based upon where
a particular victim lived, murder investigations were conducted
separately by three different Judicial Authorities under the
jurisdiction of three different Tribunals (the Tribunal of Foggia
and Lucera at north, the Tribunal of Taranto at south). Because of
jurisdictional issues, all the autopsies were performed by different
forensic pathologists within the various jurisdictions. Based on the
morphology of each stab wound (size and shape), forensic
pathologists are routinely able to deduce the maximum width
of the blade and an approximation of the length [4]. The knife in
these cases was consistently determined to be a single edged blade,
2–3 cm maximum width and no less than 10–12 cm long. In one
case, the incised wounds were extremely deep and extended to the
vertebral column suggesting that the victim’s throat was cut from

Fig. 2. Features of injuries observed among the cases with one or few stab wounds on the neck.
 C.P. Campobasso et al. / Forensic Science International 185 (2009) e7–e11 e9

any signs of defence wounds on the arms, forearms or hands of the

Fig. 3. The crime scene: most of the victims were lying on the floor, having been blitz
attacked with a knife to the neck (case # 7).
behind [4,5]. The head was pulled back, exposing the neck and the
knife was then drawn across it beginning from the side of the neck
opposite to the hand he was using (from left to right with a right-
handed individual). Collectively, in none of these cases were there
victims.
All the victims lived in ground floor apartments. The majority of
the victims were found on the floor of their apartments and there
were no signs of forced entry (Fig. 3). The various local police
agencies were able to link the cases within their jurisdictions due
to several common themes: the consistency of wounds suffered by
the victims; the ransacking of the crime scenes in which the
drawers of wardrobes, night tables, and chest of drawers were
opened or removed and all the contents (among which clothes and
personal belongings) dumped out; as well as the theft of money
and/or some pieces of jewellery. This scenario originally suggested
to the investigators that ‘‘common’’ robbers were looking for
money or jewellery (Fig. 4).
In the beginning of 1997, the local press suggested that the first
four murder victims could be linked to each other and that a single
serial killer was at work. This theory was reinforced in May of 1997
when three additional elderly victims were discovered which
shared common characteristics with the previous cases. Fig. 5 is a
timeline showing the distribution of victims in 1996 and 1997.
During the series, a murder occurred approximately once per
month but increased dramatically in May 1997 when there were 3
victims. Based on public pressure, a criminal profile was finally
requested by the Judicial Authority of Foggia where most of the

Fig. 4. The common scenario observed at the crime scene: ransacking of wardrobes and dressers with drawers open and the contents emptied on the bed and on the floor (case # 1).

Fig. 5. Chronological distribution of the victims between 1996 and 1997.

e10 C.P. Campobasso et al. / Forensic Science International 185 (2009) e7–e11

Table 2
Homicides confessed to by Ben Ezzedine Sebai in 2005 and 2007.

Case # Date Name Age City Ben Ezzedine Sebai People convicted prior 2005

1 24 April 1996 MC 81 Lucera CONFESSED in 2007

2 29 May 1996 GG 72 S. Ferdinando CONFESSED in 2007
3 10 August 1996 SA 85 Ginosa CONFESSED in 2007
4 15 January 1997 M 75 Cerignola Life Sentence in 2000
CONFESSED in 2007

5 04 April 1997 MG 75 Massafra CONFESSED in 2005 Victim’s nephew

6 01 May 1997 SA 70 Trinitapoli CONFESSED in 2007
7 09 May 1997 LS 82 Canosa CONFESSED in 2007
8 14 May 1997 LPR 86 Castellaneta CONFESSED in 2005 2 local thieves

9 29 July 1997 VM 83 Palagiano Life Sentence in 2000 3 of victim’s friends

CONFESSED in 2005

10 21 August 1997 LL 90 Laterza CONFESSED in 2007

11 27 August 1997 SA 84 Spinazzola Life Sentence in 2000

CONFESSED in 2007

12 16 September 1997 NL 75 Palagianello Life Sentence in 2000

CONFESSED in 2007

13 05 June 1995 NN 72 Foggia CONFESSED in 2007

14 08 July 1995 PV 83 Melfi CONFESSED in 2007
15 13 August 1995 CC 76 Palagiano CONFESSED in 2005 2 local thieves

murders occurred. This profile was constructed in order to aid the
local police in limiting and refining their suspect list. The team
included a forensic pathologist and a forensic psychiatrist, who
reviewed all eight autopsy protocols and the corresponding
investigation reports. All of the eight murders had the following
common characteristics: the victims were females over the age of
70, living alone in their own ground floor apartments, there were
no signs of break-in, all the apartments were ransacked, in some of
the cases money and/or jewellery were taken, all the victims were
stabbed in the neck, mostly on the left side, and none of the victims
had defensive injuries.
The criminal profile suggested that after the initial assault on
the victim, the offender spent a period of time in the apartments.
The offender ransacked the apartment, searching for money and
jewellery. In two cases (case # 4 and case # 9), trace blood was
discovered in the bathroom indicating the killer washed his hands.
In addition, in one other case (case # 6), cigarette butts were left at
the scene, suggesting the offender spent extra time at the crime
scene after the murder. The conclusions reached from the criminal
profile showed that the method of operation was completely
unusual for the local criminal element, suggesting that the offender
could be an immigrant. The offender was skilled in using a knife,
and was probably a right-handed individual. The offender
displayed features of antisocial personality disorder, and was
sexually motivated. The theory of sex-related homicides was
supported by the evidence of sperm traces recovered from the
body of an additional victim discovered during August 1997 (case
# 11). The offender might have a prior arrest for sex-related crimes
or attempted murder. Unfortunately, even though the results of the
criminal profiling were accurate and resembled Sebai, they did not
lead to his capture.
On 16th of September 1997, Sebai was arrested while he
attempted to board a train after his last murder. The offender was
identified by an 8-year-old child, the next-door neighbour of the
last victim, who had seen the offender after the murder when he
was discarding his blood-stained clothing. At his trial in 2000,
Sebai was convicted of four murders (case # 4, case # 9, case # 11,
case # 12) and given life sentence. In case # 12 the DNA analysis
provided from the blood-stained clothing matched the DNA profile
of the victim. During the trial the offender continually claimed he
was innocent.
It was difficult to link Sebai to additional murders because in
four of those cases (case # 5, case # 8, case # 9, case # 15), a total
of nine people had already been arrested and convicted of the
offences (Table 2). For example, in case # 8, two local young
people (previous imprisoned for robbery) were arrested and
they confessed to the murder. For case # 9, a young white man,
along with his mother and sister were arrested and found guilty
prior Sebai was arrested. The young man confessed to having
killed the elderly lady with the help of Sebai. The same young
man was also suspected of having killed another elderly victim
in 1995 (case # 15) with the help of a friend who was a minor at
the time. The minor claimed to be innocent of the murder,
however, he was found guilty at trial. In 2004, he committed
suicide while in jail.
In 2005, Sebai confessed to the murders of four elderly women
(cases # 5, case # 8, case # 9, and case # 15). Finally in 2007, Sebai
confessed to eight additional homicides. This brought the number
of murders he was responsible for to fifteen (Table 2). He also
confessed three murders occurred in 1995, among which a case
originally classified as natural death (case # 13). All the homicides
were committed in the two main areas of Apulia territories above
mentioned. In these additional victims, the perpetrator did not
use any knife but he strangled the elderly women with his hands.
However, there was little forensic evidence to prove that Sebai
was conclusively involved in all fifteen cases. Sebai’s fingerprints
were found only in the apartments of case # 4 and case # 9,
demonstrating that the suspect was really on those scenes of
crime. In 2000, the part of DNA-analysis in Sebai’s trial was
inconsistent since it was not requested by the Judicial Authorities
(except in case # 12 for the blood-stained clothing matching
exactly the DNA profile of the victim), probably because of the
fingerprint evidence (case # 4 and case # 9) and the last victim’s
next-door neighbour witness (case # 12). Therefore, there was no
DNA profile linked to Sebai or to any other of the suspects even if
cigarette butts and sperm traces (found in case # 6 and case # 11)
were very well-known DNA sources to be used. Actually, DNA
evidence could be helpful to review and reopen the cold cases of
the convicted ones. Law enforcement officials are currently
attempting to develop further physical and investigative evidence
to link the Sebai definitively to all of the cases. Unfortunately,
since investigators are still working on Sebai’s confession and a
 C.P. Campobasso et al. / Forensic Science International 185 (2009) e7–e11
new trial will be set up soon, no further details can be provided for
the actual forensic examination.
In fact, Sebai also admitted that he had previously informed
his lawyer he was the killer of all 15 victims but the lawyer
discouraged him from confessing to the additional murders. Based
upon Sebai’s confession, his lawyer has recently been indicted for
homicide in the death of the minor young man who committed
suicide in jail prior to Sebai’s confession. Defense lawyers are
strongly supporting the innocence claim of people wrongfully
convicted to get final exoneration and compensation because of
injustice. But actually two attorneys do not still believe to Sebai
confessions confirming he is innocent in three cases (case # 5, case
# 8, case # 15). Only one attorney seems to believe to Sebai
claiming his responsibility in at least one case (case # 10).
3. Discussion and conclusion
From a forensic psychiatric point of view, most serial killers are
psychopaths and/or sexual sadists, or possess an antisocial
personality disorder depending on the circumstances of the
homicide and what was done to the victim [1,6,7]. Such diagnosis
is based upon the information obtained from a review of the
offender’s developmental history and clinical interviews con-
ducted with the offender by the mental health clinician. Most
experts in the field believe that serial killers are rarely psychotic.
Recent interviews in jail with Sebai confirmed that all clinical
criteria for antisocial personality disorder and sexual sadism were
met according to the requirements illustrated by the American
Psychiatric Association [8].
Based on his confession, Sebai’s action modalities were quite
simple: he deliberately chose his victims randomly, having no prior
personal connection with them at all. Once he identified a potential
victim, he studied the elderly women’s habits and chose a time
when the victim was alone. He would approach the victim at her
residence using the pretext of selling some holy pictures. He would
then blitz attack the victim.
Sebai related the neck was his favourite target because stab
wounds there produced rapid death preventing victims from
screaming or calling some help. He advised that this reminded him
of ritual slaughter very common in Muslim life. In the preparation
of Muslim meat (halal), animals are killed by having their throats
cut wide open while fully conscious, and bleed to death.
Sebai confessed to experiencing sexual gratification at every
homicide. He admitted that during each murder he used to
ejaculate, sometimes several times. This behaviour is very
common among sexual motivated serial murderers, who can
become hyper-sexual before, during, and/or after committing a
murder [1]. Sebai’s primary motivation was obviously sexual in
nature. After each homicide, Sebai ransacked the apartment and
took small items. This was not the primary motive for the murder
e11
and was clearly a secondary motivation in order to divert the
investigation. Sebai advised he eventually discarded the knife he
used in the murders by throwing it into the garbage. He also
collected copies of newspaper articles that dealt with his murders,
which again is similar to other serial murderers for satisfying their
identification’s desires in realistic and socially appropriate ways
[1,7].
Sebai also advised that he had no prior relationship with the
people previously arrested for the murders he confessed to. He
claimed to have committed his murders by himself with no
accomplices. However, the investigation demonstrated that in
case # 9, there was physical evidence (fingerprints) that Sebai
committed the murder with the young man who later confessed to
the homicide.
Historically, some violent offenders have had dysfunctional
and abusive childhoods, and may have had poor childhood
relationships with women caregivers [1,6]. According to Sebai,
his father was physically and sexually abusive. He would strike
Sebai on his feet after hanging him upside down and he would
also insert objects into his anus. Sebai related during his
confession that his grandmother played a central role in his
upbringing. He advised that she was overbearing and abusive,
allowing him to be physically abused by his uncles. Sebai further
confessed to having been sexually abused by his first Imam at his
Muslim school and also in Turkish baths by ‘‘black dressed’’ old
women, who were friends of his mother and grandmother. In this
matter, it is quite surprising to notice the similarity between the
traditional black clothing dressed by women in the Muslim life
and the traditional dark clothing commonly used by elderly
women in Southern Italy. Although Sebai gave extensive details
regarding his physical and sexual abuse, there is no independent
confirmation or any official accounts or records of any such
abuse.
Although many aspects of this unusual case have been
thoroughly explored, continued study of this case is ongoing,
and further reporting will be considered in the future.
References
[1] R.J. Morton, M.A. Hilts, Serial Murder: Multi-disciplinary Perspectives for
Investigators, US Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2008.
[2] P. Brooks, M. Devine, T. Green, B. Hart, M. Moore, Serial murder: a criminal justice
response, Police Chief 54 (1988 June) 37–45.
[3] S.A. Egger, Serial Murder: An Elusive Phenomenon, Praeger, New York, 1990.
[4] V.J. Di Maio, D. Di Maio, Forensic Pathology, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 2001.
[5] P. Saukko, B. Knight, Knight’s Forensic Pathology, third ed., Hodder Arnold,
London, UK, 2004.
[6] V.J. Geberth, R.N. Turco, Antisocial personality disorder, sexual sadism, malignant
narcissism, and serial murder, J. Forensic Sci. 42 (1997) 49–60.
[7] V.J. Geberth, Sex-related Homicide and Death Investigation, CRC Press, Boca Raton,
FL, 2003.
[8] Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth ed., American
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