The Monster of Florence: How Pietro Pacciani Became Italy’s Most Controversial Suspect

Netflix just dropped a limited series about The Monster of Florence, and it is not here to make you feel better about institutional competence. It digs into one of Italy's darkest, messiest true crime sagas and asks a simple question: how did an investigation this big get so lost in the fog?

What the show is actually about

Director Stefano Sollima doesn’t just recreate crime scenes. He zooms in on the people and the climate around the case: the mass panic, the tabloid hunger, the old-school patriarchy, and how all of that helped blur facts into folklore. The series fixates on the fixation - how Pietro Pacciani, a rough-edged farmer, became the center of gravity for an investigation that kept shifting, widening, and then spinning out.

The case, in plain terms

Between 1968 and 1985, someone stalked couples around Florence, killing at least eight pairs - 16 people - and turning the countryside into a nightmare. It became one of the longest investigations in Italian history. Pacciani eventually emerged as the prime suspect. The show frames him less as a clean-cut culprit and more as the combustible center of a system that repeatedly failed.

Pacciani, Vanni, Lotti - and a nickname nobody asked for

Pacciani already had a violent past on the books - including a 1951 conviction and allegations of abuse - and anonymous tips helped push him into investigators' crosshairs. Police came to believe the killings involved more than one person, which led them to Mario Vanni and Giancarlo Lotti.

Vanni earned an unfortunate bit of courtroom infamy during Pacciani's trial when he tried to downplay their relationship:

'We just met to share snacks.'

That throwaway line turned into a label - the 'Snack Buddies' - which is both grim and weirdly on-brand for how sensational this case got. Later, Lotti claimed a wealthy doctor had commissioned the murders, allegedly asking for specific body parts for dark ceremonies. That allegation supercharged the most lurid version of events - the idea of an untouchable operator pulling strings from the shadows - and the case ballooned from baffling to borderline myth.

The investigation that ate itself

The series leans into the institutional rot: procedural mistakes, clashing theories, and a culture that routinely sidelined violence against women. Pacciani was convicted, then acquitted in 1996. He died before the new trial could happen. So, no neat ending, no final answers - just a trail of pain and paperwork.

That unresolved knot is the point here. The show isn’t about closing the case; it’s about showing what happens when the machine breaks down - how media frenzy and shaky process can turn real lives into a Rorschach test for everyone’s worst assumptions.

So, should you watch it?

If you like your true crime complicated, messy, and unsatisfying in the way real life usually is, yes. The reaction is mixed so far, which tracks with a series that refuses to give you a bow on top.

Quick stats

• Series: The Monster of Florence
• Creators: Leonardo Fasoli, Stefano Sollima
• Director: Stefano Sollima
• Genre: True crime drama
• Country / Language: Italy / Italian
• Production companies: The Apartment, AlterEgo
• Seasons / Episodes: 1 season, 4 episodes
• Where to watch: Netflix
• Release date: October 22, 2025
• Core case timeline: 1968 to 1985; at least eight couples killed (16 victims total)
• Main figures: Pietro Pacciani (prime suspect), Mario Vanni, Giancarlo Lotti
• Notable twist: Lotti later alleged a wealthy doctor orchestrated murders for ritualistic reasons
• Legal arc: Pacciani convicted, then acquitted in 1996; died before retrial
• Cast: Francesca Olia, Liliana Bottone, Giacomo Fadda, Marco Bullitta, Valentino Mannias, Antonio Tintis, Giordano Mannu
• Ratings snapshot: IMDb 6.4, Rotten Tomatoes 60%

The Monster of Florence is streaming now on Netflix. It won’t give you closure, but it will make you think about how easily a true crime story can become a national ghost story.