The Yara Gambirasio Case: Beyond Reasonable Doubt

First of all, my condolences to Yara's family.

Now about this movie itself. I really didn't like how in this movie the timeline keeps changing back and forth again and again. So confusing!!! No reason for that at all. It would be way more interesting and easier to watch it with the normal timeline. Also, the translation is annoying . Why not to add a normal doubler translation??? Nowadays, with AI it is so easy to translate to any language you want, and translating can be done even in the original voices.

Overall I think this movie was poorly made, and I wish Netflix had better quality control.

The kidnapping and murder of 13 year old girl Yara Gambirasio could turn out to be one of the most important cases in international criminal history. As one of the pioneers of DNA evidence, Peter Gill has said - 'DNA should never be used alone to convict a criminal, but with a combination of other evidence.'

Never before has a better case been made than in this tragic case, where a very likely probability is that there is currently an innocent man languishing in an Italian for a crime he may well not have committed.

Despite almost shooting itself in the foot, by presenting the facts of the case with two non linear time lines, this documentary never the less presents a balanced view of a case that Italy was so desperate to have an answer for, an innocent man may well have gone to prison for the crime.

The more likely scenario is that a serial killer is still on the loose in Italy who may have been responsible for more than one murder.

The victim, who quite rightly is often at the forefront of this story, was a bright dance student from a normal middle class Italian family. Yara disappeared on a cold winters evening while walking back from the local sports hall to her house, a walk which only would have taken 10-15 minutes.

From the word go several vital mistakes were made in the case. A proper search was not carried out of key premises, nor key potential witnesses including the janitor of the gym until some time later. The victim herself wasn't found for three months, in an area that was already searched several times, suggesting it was highly probable she was placed there at a later date.

A DNA profile was completed from a sample found on the victims body but the way in which was constructed appears to be flawed and convoluted, it was also evidence which later denied to the defence, and an order was given that would effectively destroy the last remaining samples. Other potential scenarios and perpetrators were not followed up, and the entire prosecution was flawed and evidence was manufactured to favour their case.

You really need to see this series for yourself and draw your own conclusions, but I have a feeling history will not be kind to those in this case who have put a local brick layer in prison.

But please, enough with the non-linear narratives.

Frankly speaking, a good reason to cancel the Netflix subscription.

The documentary exclusively supports the defendant's point of view and ends by claiming that the prosecutor is under investigation for fraud.

The reality is that criminal prosecution in Italy is mandatory when there is a complaint (and the defendant's attorney filed a complaint) but the action ended with the prosecutor's acquittal of all charges.

The evidence brought by the public prosecution in this case is indisputable. The genetic profiles of person of interest 1 and 2 were ascertained well before the people to whom they belong were identified. What is extraordinary in this case is that the genetic profiling of almost 20,000 volunteers made it possible to determine the existence of an illegitimate child, the result of an extramarital relationship of which no one was aware, except the mother of the accused and his natural father, who died 12 years earlier. This illegitimate child was found guilty of killing Yara Gambirasio.

Netflix documentary falsely claims the evidence of the defendant's van, circling 16 times around the gym, was fabricated. The reality is that a video released by investigators showed images shot by 5 different cameras. Only one provided images of such quality as to allow certain identification of the defendant's van. The images shot by the other four cameras only show a van "compatible" with the defendant's one. However, in the entire province of Bergamo (1,060 square kilometers in area and 1,115 million inhabitants) there were only three vans compatible with that of the defendant. The probability that other vehicles, compatible to the defendant's one, were circulating around the Yara gym, on the same day at the same time, thus reducing the identifications from 16 to "only" 5, was considered by the jury to be low and, ultimately, irrelevant. Bossetti's van was indeed circling around the gym when Yara disappeared, as for the evidence presented by the prosecution.

Much emphasis is placed on the trainer's genetic material found on Yara's jacket or on cell phone traces. The jury found these elements irrelevant. Yara and the coach met regularly at the gym. The genetic material may have been deposited on the vest days, or even weeks, before Yara disappeared.

The cell phones do not prove at all that the defendant was at home at the time of Yara's disappearance. No one confirmed his alibi, not even his family, and the defendant has no explanation as to why his van was circling around Yara's gym at the time of her disappearance.

Massimo Bossetti is rotting in jail and deservedly so.

This documentary should just be called "A one sided case for the defence of an obviously guilty man". Because that's what it is. I didn't pick up on it until the end of the third episode just how formulaic it was. It's like this: 1) bring up a point that makes Bossetti look clearly guilty or just plain bad. (Which he is. And which he is.) 2) have the defence lawyer and other advocates explain it away. Oh it's nothing. Could happen to anyone. 3) quote the prosecution to make them look incompetent. 4) quote the defence again to explain what a farce it all was and how biased the media is. 5) we, the viewer, are supposed to be shocked and outraged at Italy's legal system, and are meant to somehow feel sorry for the utter psycho Bossetti and his wife.

One of these 5-step cycles lasts about 8 mins. So repeat it for about 25 different points. Most of which make him look very guilty, but we are meant to feel sorry for him because of the media storm. Or something. The documentary makers even try to muddy the waters and divert blame to completely innocent people just because some touch dna (not blood!) of a woman was found on the dead girl's jacket sleeve. (Umm hello. Bossetti's dna was found on her underwear. I think this counts for more.)

Netflix has done it again. You think people would have learnt after being sucked in by Making A Murderer. This one is just as deceptive. But it seems to be working with people who cannot think critically about what they're watching.

To whom is familiar with the case, this show is an absolute joke. It is so biased that it becomes immediately evident that the only purpose behind is to draw media attention, and instill doubts where there is literally none left. The director decided to focus only on the elements that were not strong in the proceeding, totally ignoring the DNA testing proof which undoubtedly pointed in one direction: 100% guilty. The enormous work done in order to identify the subject lasted years, it was very complex and brought to discover things that were unknown even to the perpetrator. There is no way that all of this was fabricated to blame an innocent person, because years of work led to him, not just a suggestion. Even circumtancial evidences are compelling here, but DNA traces on the body say it all. It is painful that the parents of the victim must go through this unfair and unnecessary biased review of the facts.