Dead Recreational Hunters in Trentino: Was It Murder After All?
Evidence pointing to murder is mounting in the case of the dead recreational hunters in Trentino. The investigation is taking a dramatic turn.
The autopsy and initial results of the ballistic expert report confirm it: the death of 24-year-old recreational hunter Massimiliano Lucietti in Celledizzo was neither a hunting accident nor a suicide. As previously reported, the young man had been found dead in the forests above the hamlet of Pejo in the Val di Sole valley. The shot was fired at close range into the back of the 24-year-old's neck — possibly while the young man was lying face down on the ground, lying in wait for an animal.
Retired Forest Ranger Takes His Own Life
The lifeless body was discovered by retired forest ranger Maurizio Gionta, who took his own life the same day with a gunshot to the head. The 59-year-old, who was also a recreational hunter, left behind a farewell letter stating: “Do not blame me for what I did not do.”
Investigation Into Further Recreational Hunters
The mystery surrounding Lucietti's death may indeed involve other recreational hunters who were present in the forested area that morning: investigations are continuing in this direction as well. According to Corriere della Sera, investigators summoned and questioned at least two further recreational hunters who had been in the forests of Celledizzo on 31 October. That firearms in the hands of recreational hunters pose a safety risk is also demonstrated by the Crime and Recreational Hunting section on wildbeimwild.com.
More on the subject of recreational hunting: In the dossier Poaching and hunting crime in Switzerland we document cases, legal questions and recurring patterns. The scientific evidence is presented in the overview Studies on the Effects of Recreational Hunting.
The position of IG Wild beim Wild: IG Wild beim Wild rejects recreational hunting. Our model is the canton of Geneva, which has managed without recreational hunting since 1974: without hunting seasons, without hunting dogs, without driven hunts, without high seats, without the animal cruelty and crime that go hand in hand with hunting season elsewhere. What has worked there for over fifty years disproves every position paper by JagdSchweiz. An association that bases its policy on claims it refutes in its own documents is not a professional organisation, but a factory for misinformation.
