Kriti Mehrotra
It was 2014 when the entire world turned upside down for the Bossetti family as construction worker, son, brother, husband, and father of three Massimo Bossetti was arrested for murder. That’s because, as explored in Netflix’s ‘The Yara Gambirasio Case: Beyond Reasonable Doubt,’ not only was he being accused of kidnapping, torturing, and killing the titular 13-year-old 3½ years prior, but the surrounding investigations also ruined his personal life in more ways than one. Nevertheless, despite his summer 2016 conviction as well as the public scrutiny he has consistently faced over the years, he vehemently maintains his innocence to this very day.
Massimo Bossetti Was a Family Man
Born on October 28, 1970, in Clusone, Italy, to Ester Arzuffi and Giovanni Bossetti as one of their three kids, Massimo admittedly grew up in a working-class yet stable environment. The fact he had his twin sister Laura plus younger brother Fabio by his side every step of the way also ensured he knew the true meaning of love, appreciation, playfulness, and hard work. Therefore, by the time he’d completed his studies, he knew he wished to enter the blue-collar industry and gradually honed his skills to be a full-fledged professional carpenter and construction worker.
Then came the 1990s, which is when Massimo first came across Marita Comi and fell head over heels in love — in fact, she became the first and only woman he ever brought home. After all, the couple tied the knot on October 16, 1999, following which they happily settled down in the Province of Bergamo before welcoming three adorable children into their world. But alas, little did they know that by the time they’d reach their 15th wedding anniversary, their lives would look completely different for reasons more than one — Massimo’s arrest shattered his foundation.
Massimo Bossetti’s Learned Some Hard Truths Following His Arrest
According to reports, when Yara Gambirasio’s remains were ultimately recovered from a field in February 2011, there was significant DNA left on her torn undergarments as well as leggings. It was this DNA that led the authorities to Massimo three years later, per court records, but in a much different way than expected because the admitted hard worker was not already in the system. The authorities actually studied his gene profile and then made connections by testing other locals, which revealed he was not the biological son of the man who had raised him as his own.
Instead, officials later told Massimo that he and his twin sister were children of a late city bus driver named Giuseppe Benedetto Guerinoni, whereas their brother Fabio has a different father altogether. Their mother initially outright refuted these allegations, only to later state it’s possible her gynecologist tried alternative methods to ensure she convened — a claim apparently none of her children believe. Then there’s the fact that since all aspects of Massimo’s life were being investigated so as to ascertain his possible motive for killing the teen on November 20, 2010, officials also discovered his wife had become involved with two other men.
Because Massimo had seemingly tried to run when officials came to arrest him on July 16, 2014, while he was working to fix the roof of an attic, he was denied bail until he stood trial. It was apparently following this that his wife Martina had at least two lovers, all the while continuing to visit him in prison and support him, which was later brought up in court, too. Their personal lives were aired for the world, along with the fact his personal computer had a history of explicit videos before Yara’s arrest, only for the couple to concede they often watched adult films together. In other words, per the show, it was implied his motive for targeting Yara was sexual in nature.
Although Incarcerated, Massimo Bossetti Maintains His Innocence
While Massimo’s requests to have the DNA evidence against him re-evaluated have continuously been denied, his lawyers were able to establish in court that there was no child pornography on his personal devices and he had indeed not stalked the gymnasium where Yara was last seen alive. Furthermore, they’d even proved that the cell tower evidence against him was of no significance since its range went to his home, so he could’ve been anywhere at the time of Yara’s abduction. They thus truly believed they’d made it clear there was reasonable doubt Massimo was not responsible for Yara’s death and was certainly not a predator, but to no avail.
In the end, on July 1, 2016, at the age of 46, Massimo Giuseppe Bossetti was convicted of first-degree murder. He was later also convicted of second-degree murder and another related count of violence, as a result of which he was sentenced to life in prison. Therefore, today, he remains incarcerated at the Bollate Prison, where he’s expected to remain for the rest of his natural life, especially as his most recent – February 2024 – request to have the evidence against him re-evaluated was denied, too. However, he maintains his innocence, claiming he doesn’t “know why I’m [behind bars]… I can’t explain to you what I’m going through and what I’m feeling.”
Read More: Yara Gambirasio: How Did She Die? Who Killed Her?
