Francesco Passalacqua

Francesco Passalacqua (born 1968), known as The Riviera dei Cedri Serial Killer , is an Italian serial killer who murdered four men in rural Cosenza from 1992 to 1997. Convicted for these crimes, he was sentenced to life imprisonment plus 24 years imprisonment.

In 2021, he was granted parole, but was re-arrested for an attempted murder three years later and returned to prison.

Early life Born in Scalea in 1968, Passalacqua is the third of six siblings and grew up in a very poor peasant family. His childhood was troubled due to the death of his mother, and at around the age of 20, Passalacqua began committing thefts and assaulting people.

Sometime in the early 1990s, Passalacqua married a 19-year-old local woman, who would later aid investigators during investigations into his murders. The pair noticed that the man had a lot of money, deciding to rob him later on in the night. To do so, they left the front door slightly ajar after leaving, and then returned near midnight.

By that time, Montaspro was asleep – using this to their advantage, Passalacqua and the accomplice dropped a concrete block on the man's head, killing him in the process. When he heard Belmonte re-entering the house, Passalacqua attacked him in the garden and pushed him to the ground, after which he stomped on his neck until he broke it. After killing the man, he stole 30 rabbits, a rifle, and a pistol. On the morning of 4 January 2024, Passalacqua broke into the home of a 65-year-old farmer in the small community of Tolè. Once he came across the homeowner, he stabbed him twice in the arm and abdomen, but the injuries proved non-fatal and the victim survived.

Passalacqua was arrested shortly afterwards, and whilst he initially claimed that he could not remember anything and was in a state of confusion, he later admitted to attacking the elderly man. This explanation was not taken seriously, and in October 2024, Passalacqua was convicted of aggravated assault and sentenced to an additional 5 years imprisonment.

As of March 2025, Passalacqua is incarcerated at the Dozza Prison in Bologna.