The Soap Maker of Correggio

Happy True Crime Thursday True Crimers!

For today's story we are going to take a trip outside of the U.S. to Italy.

Where we will be discussing the ever so lovely Leonarda Cianciulli, 

AKA The Soap Maker of Correggio. 

Don't worry this didn't turn into a how to blog....

Leonarda was born April 18, 1894 in Montella, Avellino a small Province in South Italy. She had a rocky upbringing. Leonarda was a product of rape. Her mother Emilia was forced to marry her rapist after it was discovered she was pregnant. Her father died when she was pretty young and her mother remarried. They were very poor and to top it off her mother was frequently emotionally abuse. Leonarda attempted suicide twice, but she dreamed of the day she would marry the man of her dreams and in 1917 she did just that. She married Raffaele Pansardi who was a registry office clerk. To put it lightly her mother wasn't happy about this marriage. She had planned for her to marry another man, a wealthy man. On a not so light note her mother in return put a curse on the newly married couple.

The newlyweds moved to Raffaele's native town of Lauria.  They had financial troubles from the beginning, but it became much worse once they started to have children, they couldn't support their growing family. In 1927 Leonarda was arrested for fraud and went to prison. After she was released her and her husband wanted a fresh start so they decided to move the family to Lacedonia. In 1930 their home was destroyed in an earthquake, so again the family had to up and move, this time settling in Correggio.

It was here that the family finally started to gain some financial security. Leonarda even opened up herself a small soap shop that was widely received by the community of Correggio. Even though things started to look up, the family wasn't free of tragedy. Leonarda had 17 pregnancies, she lost 3 children due to miscarriages and ten died in their youth. Understandably she was protective over her 4 remaining children, maybe a little to over the top protective. She was a superstitious woman and believed that the curse her mother put on them was real. She was very much into fortune telling and palm reading. A fortune teller had once warned her that she would have children, but they would all die young. She reportedly met another palm reader that told her that she saw prison in her right hand and a criminal asylum on the left.

In 1939 World War II had broken out and Italy was looking to enter war on the side of Germany. Her eldest son had been designated to be part of the Italian Army, Leonarda was petrified for his safety and wanted to protect him. So what better way to do this than a little human sacrifice. While Leonarda liked going to fortune tellers she also earned the reputation of being one herself. She met her sacrifices this way, they would come to her seeking advice. 

Her first victim was a middle aged single woman named Faustina Setti that was looking for a husband. She came to Leonarda, it was then that she was told that her suitable partner was in Pola, but to not tell anyone about it. Leonarda told her to write letters and postcards to her family and friends so they could be sent once she reached Pola to let them know everything was fine. On the day of Faustina's departure she came to say goodbye to Leonarda. It was then that Leonarda drugged her via their celebratory wine. She then murdered her with an ax once she fell unconscious. She pulled her body into a closet, hacked it into 9 pieces and collected the blood into a basin.  Per a statement later given to authorities she then threw the pieces into a pot, added seven kilos of caustic soda, and stirred until the mixture had turned into a thick, dark mush. She then poured it into several buckets and disposed of it in a nearby septic tank. As for the blood in the basin she let it coagulate before drying it in an oven, grinding it and then mixing it with flour, sugar, chocolate, milk, eggs and margarine to make teacakes. She gave some of these teacakes to visiting women and the rest were eaten by herself and her husband. Some sources state that Leonarda received Faustina's life savings as payment for her services.

Her 2nd victim was Francesca Soavi, Leonarda told her that there was a job at an all girls school in Piacenza that was meant for her. Leonarda told her not to tell anyone and convinced her to write postcards to be sent detailing her plans. Again just like with Faustina, Francesca came to say goodbye to Leonarda, she too was drugged and then killed with an ax, and the same steps were taken with her body. Leonarda received a good portion of money from her as well. 

The 3rd and final victim of Leonarda was Virginia Cacioppo. With Virginia she was a former soprano and loved music, Leonarda told her that there was work as a secretary for a impresario (a person who organizes concerts, plays or operas) in Florence. Just like with the first two she told her not to tell anyone where she was going. And like clockwork Virginia showed up at Leonarda's door to say goodbye. I think we all know what is set to happen next...but then a game changer happens, this time instead of making her teacakes she melted Virginia's body to make soap. Leonarda at one point said "She ended up in the pot, like the other two...her flesh was fat and white, when it had melted I added a bottle of cologne, and after a long time on the boil I was able to make some most acceptable creamy soap. I gave bars to neighbors and acquaintances. The cakes were better, that woman was really sweet." Ok....did ya'll just gag a little like i did? These people unknowingly were cannibals and were washing themselves with boiled up body parts. Leonarda also received a substantial amount of money along with assorted jewels from Virginia. 

Virginia's sister in law didn't buy the story and was very suspicious. Since she was last seen entering Leonarda's home that's where police went. They arrested her, but she didn't confess at first. It wasn't until they believed that her son may have been involved that she started forking up the details and confessed. She was tried for murder in 1946. She was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison and 3 years in a criminal asylum....just like the palm reader told her. 

Leonarda died of a brain hemorrhage in 1970. If you are a weirdo like me and are taking a trip to Rome check out the Criminological Museum. Here they have a number of artifacts from the case, including the pot she boiled her victims in. 

Well there you have it folks, the story of The Soap Maker of Correggio. See you all next week!  

Resources:

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/leonarda-cianciulli-21548.php
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonarda_Cianciulli