Arrigo Candela

Arrigo Candela (1956 – 2007), known as Rambo, was an Italian–French serial killer who murdered seven people in Italy and France during robberies that occurred between 1990 and 1992.

Tried and convicted for his sole murder in France, he was incarcerated there until his death in 2007.

Early life Born in Baldissero Canavese (Italy) in 1956, Candela was left in the care of his mother Conchita, a Frenchwoman and daughter of a partisan who had been killed at the Mauthausen concentration camp. His father, Riccardo Cecchetti, was a truck driver who later remarried to an Algerian woman in France and had two other sons, but never sought to contact Arrigo as he grew up.

The young boy began to show a strong interest in firearms and uniforms from an early age, with his favorite pastime being lurking in the woods and camouflage. This, along with his passion for warfare, earned him the nickname "The Rambo of the Piedmont".

As an adult, he avoided conscription by claiming that he had already served in France to Italian officials and claiming the reverse to their French counterparts. Candela was eventually charged with desertion in both countries, but was never properly prosecuted due to investigation proceedings being slowed down due to the confusion over which place had jurisdiction. Bruno was the first to be killed with a shot to the heart, followed by Brugiafreddo, who tried to take refuge under a table.

Barely a month later, he committed another double murder in the Province of Turin. The bodies of husband and wife Vincenzo Pilone (age 59) and Luigina Podio (age 49) were found. They had been shot to death while picking mushrooms in a forest in Mazzè. The initial theory by police was that the couple were killed by a poacher, who first shot Podio by accident and then killed Pilone to avoid having witnesses to the crime. For the next three years, Candela was in solitary confinement, where he would await trial for the murder of Officer Macé. During that time, he expressed his intent to write a book about his "exploits" in northern Italy, in which he also included quotes from famous philosophers, most notably Friedrich Nietzsche.