Soap-Maker of Correggio
Born on April 18, 1894, in Montella, Italy Leonarda Cianciulli. When she was a young girl she attempted suicide two times. She married a registry office clerk named Raffaele Pansardi in 1914 who her parents did not approve of and cursed their marriage. She was imprisoned for fraud at 33 years old. A few years later she had lost her home in an earthquake. Leonarda went see a gypsy fortune teller who told her “In your right hand I see prison, In your left, I see a criminal asylum. She was a mother to 17 children whom of which 13 died before the age of ten. Only left with 4 children she became very protective. Though her neighbors liked her and seemed like a loving mother. Giuseppe was her favorite child and was very protective of him however he was going to enlist in the Italian army in preparation for World War II in 1939. This is when she killed her first victim. In order to ensure her son's safety, she needed human sacrifices. Leonarda killed her victims and baked them into pastries and melt their fat to put into soaps. Unknowingly Her family would eat the pastries she would make. Leonarda would also sell them to others in her shop.
She killed her first victim when she was 42. The first victim was a spinster named Faustina Setti in 1939. Setti had come to Leonarda to help her find a husband. In order for nobody to wonder where she was and become concerned Leonarda Made Setti write letters to her family saying she left to Pola to find a suitable mate that Leonarda found. Cianciulli offered her a glass of drugged wine, then killed her with an ax and dragged the body into the closet. She then cut Setti’s body into 9 parts. “I threw the pieces into a pot, added seven kilos of caustic soda, which I had bought to make soap, and stirred the whole mixture until the pieces dissolved in a thick, dark mush that I poured into several buckets and emptied in a nearby septic tank. As for the blood in the basin, I waited until it had coagulated, dried it in the oven, ground it and mixed it with flour, sugar, chocolate, milk, and eggs, as well as a bit of margarine, kneading all the ingredients together. I made lots of crunchy tea cakes and served them to the ladies who came to visit, though Giuseppe and I also ate them.” (An Embittered Soul’s Confessions). She used the same technique on her second victim Francesca Soavi in 1940. Her Final Victim was Virginia Cacioppo though this time Leonarda wanted Cacioppo not to tell anyone where she was going and Cacioppo agreed. Every detail of the murder was the same as the other murders. “She ended up in the pot like the other two…her flesh was fat and white, when it had melted I added a bottle of cologne, and after a long time on the boil, I was able to make some most acceptable creamy soap. I gave bars to neighbors and acquaintances. The cakes, too, were better: that woman was really sweet.”
Virginia Cacioppo's sister in law grew suspicious of her disappearance. The last she had seen her was going into Leonarda’s home. She had told the police about her concerns so they went to Leonardas home and arrested her son afterward. Leonarda did not want her son to go to prison for something that he didn't do. She confessed immediately to the murders, providing detailed accounts of what she had done. She was tried for murder in 1946. She remained unrepentant, going so far as to correct the official account while on the stand. She was very calm when she was on the stand stating “I gave the copper ladle, which I used to skim the fat off the kettles, to my country, which was so badly in need of metal during the last days of the war….". She was found guilty 30 years in prison and 3 years in a criminal asylum. Leonarda died of cerebral apoplexy in the women’s criminal asylum in Pozzuoli on October 15, 1970.
Coming from a strict home and having a tough life and losing 13 children before 10. Being married for 16 years and then A few years later, he abandons his wife and their four children. It is understandable to do whatever you can to protect your kids. Leonarda was the type of person who believed in curses and in this case sacrifices to protect her family. She most protective of her son Giuseppe. Since she was so protective of him, when he signed to join the Italian army she was scared for his life and when the police accused him, she didn't want him to spend his life in prison for what she did. They got her where it hurts the most. Afterward as previously stated she confessed to everything including the soap and using body parts into her baked goods. With Leonardas history, everything she had done seems to be understandable though murder is never an answer in any way. Leonarda Cianciulli was a broken woman with a horrible childhood trying to protect her eldest son. She did do what she had set out to do which was to protect Giuseppe’s life. Even though Giuseppe ended up getting accused of murder. A mothers love for her children will make her do many things to ensure their child will be protected No matter what it takes.
Sources Cited
Apostolopoulos, Aris. “The Deadly Soap Maker.” Sword and Scale, 26 July 2017, swordandscale.com/the-deadly-soap-maker/
Blanco, Juan Ignacio. “Leonarda Cianciulli.” Leonarda Cianciulli | Murderpedia, the Encyclopedia of Murderers, murderpedia.org/female.C/c/cianciulli-leonarda.htm
Serena, Katie. “Meet The Serial Killer Who Turned Her Victims Into Soap And Teacakes.” All That’s Interesting, All That’s Interesting, 17 Oct. 2018, allthatsinteresting.com/leonarda-cianciulli.
Show, The Infographics, director. Leonarda Cianciulli AKA The Human Flesh Soap Maker. YouTube, YouTube, 4 May 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uht1a5A8CAI&t=1s.
