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Fugitive Elia Del Grande Criticizes ‘Casa Lavoro’ in Letter After Escape

His message from a hidden location challenges the role of Italy’s casa lavoro system in handling people judged socially dangerous.

Overview

  • He remains at large after fleeing the casa lavoro in Castelfranco Emilia at the end of October or early November, with authorities actively searching for him.
  • Del Grande served about 26 years and 4 months for the 1998 shotgun murders of his parents and brother, was released under supervised liberty in July 2023, and in September was assigned to the Modena-area facility as still socially dangerous.
  • In an email to VareseNews, he describes case lavoro as operating like the defunct judicial psychiatric hospitals, citing prison-like routines, limited real work opportunities, and heavy use of psychotropic medication.
  • He argues he is an internato rather than a detainee and contends he “moved away” rather than escaped, disputing how his flight should be characterized.
  • Multiple reports say he descended a roughly six‑metre perimeter wall using tied electrical wires, and local speculation about his presence near Cadrezzate remains unconfirmed.