Ex-cop sentenced for perjury in Chiara Poggi murder (2)

Pavia, September 23 - A former Carabinieri officer was sentenced Friday two and a half years in prison for perjury in the Chiara Poggi murder case. Ex-marshal Francesco Marchetto was also sentenced to pay the victim's family 10,000 euros in damages. Marchetto in 2007 was the commander of the Carabinieri police station in the Pavia-area town of Garlasco where Poggi, 26, was bludgeoned to death in her home. Her fiance Alberto Stasi was ultimately sentenced to 16 years for the killing. He began serving his time in December 2015. The prosecution said Marchetto perjured himself during Stasi's first-tier trial as to why he failed to seize a woman's black bicycle from the suspect, influencing the outcome of the trial. It later transpired that DNA evidence found on the bike pedals contradicted his testimony about when he said he found his fiance's body. Stasi was acquitted twice, only to be convicted on December 12 last year after new evidence was found confirming he was the murderer. That court also ordered Stasi to pay one million euros in damages to Poggi's family - 350,000 euros to each of her parents and 300,000 euros to her brother Marco. ANSA Photo: The Poggi family home where the murder took place.