Leonarda Cianciulli was an Italian serial killer who murdered three middle-aged women in the 1940s. She lured them to her home with false promises, poisoned them, and then dismembered their bodies. She used their remains to make soap and cakes, which she fed to her neighbors and family, including her husband. Cianciulli believed that if she consumed the bodies, she could protect her son, who was fighting in World War II, from harm. She was eventually caught and confessed to the crimes, stating that she was influenced by her mother. Cianciulli was imprisoned for 30 years and died in 1970 at the age of 76.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. Leonardo was a serial killer in Italy.
2. She was born in 1893 and died in 1970.
3. Leonardo had 17 children, but many of them died in infancy.
4. She lost three babies due to miscarriages.
5. Leonardo's husband was named Raffaele.
6. Her son, Giuseppe, enlisted to fight in World War II.
7. Leonardo visited a fortune teller who told her that all her children would die.
8. She killed three women: Faustina, Virginia, and an unnamed third victim.
9. Leonardo cut up the bodies of her victims and made soap and cakes from their remains.
10. She distributed the soap and cakes to her neighbors, who unknowingly consumed them.
11. Leonardo's method of killing was to give her victims a glass of poisoned wine.
12. She cut up Faustina's body into nine parts and mixed the remains with caustic soda.
13. Leonardo made a cake from Faustina's blood and gave it to her husband and neighbors to eat.
14. She stole the belongings of her victims and sold them around the city.
15. Leonardo's husband did not know about her killings until she was caught.
16. She was investigated after the sister of one of her victims reported her missing.
17. Leonardo confessed to the crimes and said she was influenced by her mother.
18. She was hospitalized and imprisoned for 30 years.
19. Leonardo died in prison at the age of 76 due to cerebral apoplexy.