VICENZA – The 46-year-old accused of being the killer carer in Vicenza was questioned by the investigating judge Matteo Mantovani but she made use of the right not to answer while waiting to see the papers. The lawyer, Roberto Busa, said that his client, Paola Pettinà, «she is shocked by what is happening to her and is waiting to clarify the position.”
The woman is accused of having administered the wrong drugs and incorrect doses to the elderly she cared for and then robbed them. The latest victim was aelderlyfor whose death she was accused and arrested. The carabinieri of the investigative unit of the provincial command of Vicenza arrested the woman in execution of a precautionary custody order in prison issued by the investigating judge at the end of a nine-month investigation, for events that occurred starting from January 2022.
The complaint
The story originates from a complaint presented to the Breganze station in March 2024, when some anomalous circumstances were reported relating to periods immediately preceding the death of a local elderly woman and the rapid deterioration in the state of health of two other elderly spouses at the time which all had been cared for at home for a period by today's arrestee.
The elderly victims
The suspect, who has always boasted of having professional qualifications in the healthcare field, is accused of having caused the death of an elderly woman, as well as of the attempted murder of 4 other people, all from the Vicenza area, to whom she had provided home care for some periods in recent years and knowingly administered overdoses of neurodepressant medicines which in some cases were not included in the therapy prescribed by doctors.
The robbery
The arrested woman is also accused of aggravated robbery against an elderly woman she was assisting, having taken possession of many valuables after “stunning” her with a massive dose of benzodiazepines. The investigation activity demonstrated that all the elderly people assisted by the suspect, although suffering from different pathologies (in some cases even absent), had to resort to healthcare on an emergency basis, presenting all the same symptoms (numbness , dizziness, dysarthria, difficulty standing) which in all cases were not consequences of the illnesses suffered and which in any case had never previously manifested themselves. Those who “were lucky enough” to survive and interrupt the assistance relationship with the suspect no longer had these types of problems as they had not had before this relationship.
