Growing Up Cursed
Remember that mirror you broke when you were little? That’s 7 years. The countless ladders you’ve walked under over time? That’s another couple of years. How many black cats have crossed your path? How about the number of umbrellas you’ve opened indoors? Add that to your count. And what are we counting? Years of bad luck of course. When Leonarda Cianciulli was a young girl, she believed that she was cursed with bad luck– by her own mother. Depressed from a young age, Cianciulli tried to commit suicide twice before finding and marrying Raffaele Pansardi. This went directly against her parents plans for an arranged marriage; it was at this point that she believed her mother had cursed her. She went to jail for fraud, lost her house to an earthquake, and lost 13 of her 17 children at a young age. A very superstitious woman, Leonarda paid a visit to fortune tellers and palm readers inquiring about the future of herself and her children– both told her the outlook was grim.
Correggio, Italy: where Cianciulli lived with her husband (Pansardi), and her 4 children
Desperate Times
With the fortune teller’s warning in the back of her head, Cianciulli became very protective over her children, making sure no harm would come their way. However, she lost control over the well-being of her favorite and eldest son, Giuseppe, when he left in 1939 to fight for Italy’s army in WWII. Feeling the need to do something, Cianciulli prayed for his well-being, and began making sacrifices…… human sacrifices.
Giuseppe Cianciulli (the eldest brother)
Desperate Measures
Cianciulli was known in the community as a loving mother, kind neighbor, and a fortune teller on the side. She used these impressions to her advantage. She told her neighbor/client Faustina Setti that there was a man in another town that she was destined to be with. She convinced Setti to write notes to her friends and family telling them that she went to find her love and that she was alright (these were to be sent after she arrived in Pola). When Setti revisited Leonarda to pay her, she was drugged and murdered with an axe, and Cianciulli collected the cash. The first victim of sacrifice, Cianciulli cut up her body and dissolved it, and used her blood to bake tea cakes which she served to houseguests and her family.
The same actions were taken against victim number 2: Francesca Soavi, another client who was told a teaching job would be found for her in another town.
Once again, Cianciulli pulled the same trick on victim number 3: Virginia Cacioppo, a soprano opera singer looking for work as a secretary to an impresario. However, her body was used even further than the other two– her flesh was melted down and made into soap that Cianciulli shared with guests, neighbors, and her family. The murder and use of Virginia is what earned her the nickname, “Soap-Maker of Correggio.”
From left to right: Faustina Setti, Virginia Cacioppo, and Francesca Soavi
Caught Red-Handed
Cacioppo’s sister-in-law was the first person to become suspicious, noting her sister-in-law’s absence after having last seen her entering Cianciulli’s home. She contacted police, and Leonarda was immediately arrested; on trial, she confessed to all crimes, even correcting details when the prosecutors were inaccurate. She was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and 3 years in a criminal asylum; however, she died of cerebral apoplexy in the asylum at the age of 76 on October 15, 1970.
The pot used to cook Cianciulli’s victims into soap and tea cakes
The Diagnosis
Based on her immediate confession and correction of detail, one can deduce that Leonarda Cianciulli felt an element of pride at her actions. This pride comes from what I believe is a God Complex. Told that she would lose her children, Leonarda took into her own hands the lives of others in an effort to turn the cosmic tables. By sacrificing the lives of her neighbors, she believed that she was controlling the fates of her children, keeping them out of harm’s way. Her pride is also exemplified by her use of the victims’ bodies to make commonplace things. She was displaying her work to those around her without them even knowing it. Inside, she laughed while her friends and family ate the evidence. Buon appetito!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonarda_Cianciulli
Brandon Corey Sullivan says
Sierra,
I love the opening photo. It’s old and draws me in. I feel as though the woman looks like that old innocent grandma no one would ever suspect. You also made a great decision by listing common superstitions to set the scene. You build her up with just the right amount of back story to dive into her story. You really do begin to feel sympathetic at first for this poor looking old woman. Then you break the news and everything gets flipped outside down. I’m stunned use the first victim as a way to make tea cakes… I’ll never look at them the same way again. Then you mention how she used another victim as soap… It’s so sadistic. It’s crazy to think that someone could do all this.
I personally think it might be more than God Complex. She just seems sadistic at the core, as if she received enjoyment out of creating things from her victims and serving them to her friends. I’m still stunned that someone could do such things and get away with it for even a short amount of time. How did they not notice those people’s disappearances sooner? So many questions pop into my mind and now, once again, I’m off to look more into this person as well. Keep doing what you’re as every time I read a post of yours I find something new to look up.
Kathryn Lynn Mayberry says
Sierra,
Fantastic! Truly, that was such an interesting case to read about. I enjoyed the opening quite a bit, too. As a kid, I was terribly gullible and my brother played havoc with my mind, so I could relate with thinking I was cursed (my brother convinced me I was, once). I don’t think I’d ever go as far as Leonarda went, though. Anyway, I appreciated the in depth analysis of a female serial killer. So often people assume that it’s just men, but this proved that even women can commit gruesome serial murders. I was (disturbingly) intrigued by what she did to her victims; it takes a twisted mind to serve your victims to friends and family. As per your past posts, this was organized beautifully and hooked me immediately. The lead in connected your reader and the explanation of the case was compelling. Finally, I loved your diagnosis. It’s interesting each week to see you point out little things that I may not have noticed about the case that point so directly to the cause for the murders. In this post, the mere fact that she corrected the details at her trial led you to your diagnosis and made complete sense once you explained why. I’m curious to see what’s next.
Robert Al-Moustafa says
Sierra,
Just when I thought these stories couldn’t get more interesting and gory…it did. Once again, you had me immediately hooked from the start. The series of rhetorical questions really had me drawn in; I was interested as to what it meant in the context of the post, and boy was I in for a treat. Cianciulli’s story is one that Hollywood certainly can’t make up. Reading about all this bad luck felt so surreal – yet it all happened to ONE person in particular.
The way in which you broke up the story also enhanced the writing and gave me a wave of emotions. At first, when you spoke about all the bad luck, I began to feel bad for Cianciulli. Then you spoke about the way she went about her murders and it made me cringe. She was really methodical with her killings; in my mind, she did the best job out of the previous two to try and acquit herself during the incident. You have to be pretty wise/ a smart criminal to persuade people to send letters, saying that they were chasing their love when in reality they were just chasing their own grave.
I loved this post (except for the fact that I had to think twice about eating dessert in the dining commons) and I’m looking forward to next weeks’ segment; it almost seems like I’m reading the script to a TV show. Fantastic post from start to finish.