Netflix debuts The Monster of Florence, revisiting years of killings

Netflix on October 22 released a four-episode drama, The Monster of Florence, that revisits the decadeslong investigation into a string of brutal double homicides around Florence between 1968 and 1985. The limited series dramatizes the early years of the probe, centering on the so-called Sardinian lead and the 1968 double killing that investigators later linked to a series of similar attacks in the countryside outside Florence.

Authorities attribute eight double homicides to the perpetrator widely known as the Monster of Florence, a pattern that left 16 people dead. Investigators say the crimes shared several consistent features: young couples parked in secluded spots were attacked, the male victims were shot first, and the female victims were frequently stabbed and in multiple cases mutilated. Ballistics evidence pointed to a .22 caliber Beretta and Winchester H-brand cartridges recurring across crime scenes. In one case, prosecutors received a mailed fragment of a victim’s breast. The murder weapon has never been recovered and the anatomical parts taken from victims were not found, leaving key physical evidence missing.

The Netflix series opens with the 1968 killing of Barbara...