Death of Pantani, Rimini Prosecutor: no beating, archival confirmed
The Rimini Prosecutor's Office has supplemented its request for archival in the Pantani case, ruling out any evidence of a fatal beating.
No evidence of violence: Prosecutor closes Pantani case
The Rimini Prosecutor's Office has filed a supplementary addition to the archival request for the latest investigation into the death of Marco Pantani. ANSA Cronaca reports. Public prosecutor Luca Bertuzzi has transmitted to investigating judge Raffaele Deflorio an additional note compared to the one already presented in February 2024, following an in-depth analysis — the third conducted over the course of 22 years of investigations into the death of the cycling champion.
Pantani was found dead on 14 February 2004 in a room at the residence "Le Rose" in Rimini. On three occasions, investigators from Rimini reached the same conclusion: it was not a murder.
The latest investigation, coordinated by public prosecutor Bertuzzi, concluded with a request for archival, for which the date of the hearing by investigating judge Deflorio is still awaited. In the meantime, lawyer Fiorenzo Alessi, who represents Pantani's parents, had presented new evidence on several occasions, asking the Prosecutor's Office to deepen the investigations.
The latest of these elements concerned the statements of a prisoner in Rimini prison, reported to a prison officer: according to the inmate, "Marco was beaten to death over a drug debt of around 260,000 euros". To dispel any doubt, the Prosecutor's Office assigned the carabinieri to verify what had been reported.
The investigation, conducted between February and June of this year, included hearing both the inmate and the prison officer. No evidence supporting the hypothesis was found, which is why the public prosecutor proceeded with the supplementary archival request.
Source: ANSA Cronaca