Marco Toffaloni Sentenced to 30 Years for Piazza della Loggia Massacre
Brescia, Italy, April 3, 2025 – Marco Toffaloni, a former neo-fascist operative, was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday, April 2, by the Brescia Juvenile Court for his role as a material perpetrator in the Piazza della Loggia bombing—a terrorist attack that killed eight people and injured 102 on May 28, 1974. The verdict, delivered nearly 51 years after the massacre, marks a significant step in one of Italy’s longest-running judicial sagas from the “Years of Lead,” though Toffaloni, now 68 and a Swiss citizen, will not serve time due to Switzerland’s refusal to extradite him.
A Decades-Long Pursuit of Justice
The Piazza della Loggia massacre unfolded during an anti-fascist rally in Brescia, when a bomb hidden in a trash bin detonated at 10:12 a.m., targeting a crowd gathered by trade unions and the Permanent Anti-Fascist Committee. The attack, linked to the far-right group Ordine Nuovo, was part of a broader “strategy of tension” aimed at destabilizing Italy’s democracy. Toffaloni, then a 16-year-old from Verona, was accused of placing the explosive device—a charge he faced as a minor, hence the trial in juvenile court despite his current age.
The sentencing follows a trial that began in September 2024, driven by Deputy Prosecutor Caty Bressanelli’s relentless investigation. Key evidence included testimony from Gianpaolo Stimamiglio, a former Ordine Nuovo member, who recounted Toffaloni’s alleged confession in the late 1980s: “I was there in Brescia… It was me.” A photograph from the scene, analyzed in 2016, also placed Toffaloni in the square post-explosion, corroborated by Ombretta Giacomazzi, ex-girlfriend of neo-fascist Silvio Ferrari, who tied him to the plot. Prosecutor Bressanelli, requesting the maximum 30-year penalty (the limit for juvenile cases), lamented, “If not for the minor status, I’d have sought life.”
A Conviction Without Custody
Toffaloni, now living in Switzerland’s Grisons Canton under the name Franco Maria Muller after marrying a Swiss citizen, was absent throughout the proceedings. His defense, led by attorney Marco Gallina, sought acquittal, arguing the evidence—witness accounts and a grainy photo—was “contradictory” and insufficient. The court disagreed, convicting him after eight hours of deliberation, though Switzerland’s stance complicates enforcement. Bern rejected Italy’s extradition request in October 2024, citing a statute of limitations, rendering the sentence symbolic unless Toffaloni returns to Italian soil.
Posts on X reflect Italy’s mixed reaction: “Justice after 51 years—better late than never,” one user wrote, while another fumed, “30 years but he’s free in Switzerland? A mockery.” The verdict adds a third name to the roster of those held accountable, following life sentences for Ordine Nuovo leaders Carlo Maria Maggi and Maurizio Tramonte in 2015 and 2017, respectively.
A Wound That Lingers
For Brescia, the ruling stirs bittersweet emotions. Manlio Milani, who lost his wife Livia in the blast and leads the victims’ families association, called it “a piece of truth, but not closure,” noting the ongoing trial of co-accused Roberto Zorzi before Brescia’s Court of Assizes. The massacre’s scars—eight deaths, including teachers and unionists, and a city’s shaken trust—remain vivid, underscored by President Sergio Mattarella’s presence at last year’s 50th anniversary.
Toffaloni’s conviction ties him to a revenge motive: the death of Silvio Ferrari, a neo-fascist killed by his own bomb nine days earlier, which prosecutors say spurred the Piazza attack. Yet, with no extradition, the sentence feels hollow to some. “He’s 68, free, and we’re still here hurting,” an X post lamented. As Italy grapples with its violent past, this latest chapter—decades in the making—offers justice on paper, but not in practice, leaving the Piazza della Loggia saga hauntingly unresolved.
