Italian man 'poisoned family members after joining cult'

[muriel_volestrangler]

Italian police have arrested a man who allegedly used a rat poison ingredient to kill members of his family because they were "impure".

Mattia Del Zotto, 27, is accused of sprinkling the toxic chemical thallium in the food of his paternal grandparents and aunt, who died.

Five other relatives are in hospital receiving treatment.
...
After his arrest he confessed that he had wanted to "punish impure people", according to prosecutors.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42272932

His mother said "Mattia is following a sect.

"Lately my son told us he is no longer a Catholic and is following a religion he didn't describe to us. My assumption is that it's a kind of sect.

"This new lifestyle is inspired in his words, if my memory doesn't fail me, by a group called 'Second Vatican Council'."

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/general_news/2017/12/07/thallium-poisoning-victim-relative-held-4_b6fa0631-6b51-451b-88c4-6aa379ca56c8.html

[louis-t]

1. This is what happens when religious people are taught

that they are better than everyone else.

[struggle4progress]

2. ... The intention of the young man .. was to kill relatives ... Mattia was described

by acquaintances as an introverted , taciturn boy who did not like to leave home, but preferred to cultivate his passion for information technology. But .. he forgot to delete from his PC the draft of an email , in which he asked the Paduan company from which he had ordered the poison to hasten the shipment ... The young man .. had contacted several companies to obtain arsenic , but as the sellers demanded purchaser information and a declaration of use, he had settled on thallium sulphate .. an easier-to-find poison supplied a company from Padua ...

http://it.blastingnews.com/cronaca/2017/12/risolto-il-giallo-degli-avvelenamenti-da-tallio-un-serial-killer-in-famiglia-002216259.html

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. The trouble with the Italians is they have no phrase for "serial killer" (nt)

[struggle4progress]

6. ... um ... ok ...

[muriel_volestrangler]

7. It seemed the most notable thing about that article (nt)

[struggle4progress]

8. It's interesting to try to figure out what's happened from press reports.

The ones I posted came from Italian sources. The notable common feature is that the accused seems to have been socially isolated and stayed at home most of the time, on his computer. I found several entirely unclear references to conversion to Judaism and to a supposed "Vatican Council II" sect:

... for about 248 euros in cash, he realized his "homicide plan" perhaps in the name of an unidentified sect or a religious belief ...
http://www.ilmessaggero.it/primopiano/cronaca/famiglia_avvelenata_tallio_arrestato_nipote-3414175.html

... "My son says he is no longer a Catholic and that he is following a new religion, I think .. a sort of sect" Mattia Del Zotto's mother told investigators. The young man joined .. "Vatican Council II" and criticized .. Pope Francis ... According to his mother .. for years the boy did not enter a church: he did not even go to the funeral of his grandparents .. For about a year .. he wanted to stay in his room with the radiator turned off ... For some time he had been maniacal ... he had been unemployed for some time even though he had a diploma in accounting ...
http://milano.corriere.it/notizie/cronaca/17_dicembre_07/famiglia-uccisa-tallio-null-killer-viveva-due-anni-isolato-al-computer-640075fe-db3f-11e7-a83d-f3d4e0aded34.shtml?refresh_ce-cp

Although some anti-modernist Catholics seem to think the second Vatican council resulted in a heretical church, as far as I can tell their complaint typically seems to be the loss of the traditional Latin mass: that crowd would be quite unlikely to call themselves by any name resembling "Vatican Council II." A possible conclusion is that the young man told his mother something incoherent about Judaism and the second Vatican council; that his mother repeated some version of that to a reporter; and that the reporter then further garbled it. Nothing I have found, from the authorities, suggests any definite motive

[struggle4progress]

3. ... Mattia Del Zotto .. lived isolated for two years .. in front of a computer all day ...

As an IT expert .. he then erased all traces from his computer to make investigations more difficult ... he forgot to remove the draft of an e-mail in which he asked a company from Padua for the heavy metal ...

http://www.corrierequotidiano.it/1.73507/cronaca/820/tallio-nipote-ho-ucciso-punire-soggetti-impuri

[struggle4progress]

5. ... arrested .. for the triple murder of his grandparents and an aunt ...

The 27-year-old was also charged with the attempted murder of an additional 5 people (maternal grandparents, deceased aunt's husband, another aunt and a paternal grandparent's caregiver). According to the prosecution, the crimes were premeditated ... Mattia Del Zotto told investigators that he wanted to "punish impure subjects". The 27-year-old then said he did not want to collaborate with the investigation ... After the reference to impure subjects, Del Zotto closed up, saying .. to the carabinieri .. "you will never know why I did this. I do not have to collaborate with your institution or with other institutions of this State ". And when asked if he had a trusted lawyer, he replied .. "I do not need other people to speak for me. Choose the person you like best from the telephone directory" ...

http://www.tgcom24.mediaset.it/cronaca/lombardia/famiglia-avvelenata-con-il-tallio-a-nova-milanese-arrestato-il-nipote-delle-vittime-volevo-punire-soggetti-impuri-_3110840-201702a.shtml