The Murder and Its Hidden Cause

The Collini Case

The murder investigation moves from an apparently motiveless killing toward the buried wartime history that explains why Fabrizio Collini chose his victim.

increasing

Bearing strength in each event

decreasing

Adlon Encounter Adlon Encounter from "The Collini Case". The Adlon Encounter The killing Fabrizio Collini enters the Hotel Adlon under a false journalistic pretext and meets Hans Meyer.

Adlon Encounter from "The Collini Case". The Adlon Encounter The killing Fabrizio Collini enters the Hotel Adlon under a false journalistic pretext and meets Hans Meyer.

The Adlon Encounter The killing Fabrizio Collini enters the Hotel Adlon under a false journalistic pretext and meets Hans Meyer. He shoots him, then repeatedly stamps on his face. The unanswered question He waits for the police and offers no explanation. The violence is unmistakable, but its motive remains hidden.

A Silent Defendant A Silent Defendant from "The Collini Case". A Silent Defendant The admission At his first appearance, Fabrizio Collini tells Caspar Leinen that he killed Hans Meyer, but refuses to discuss why.

A Silent Defendant from "The Collini Case". A Silent Defendant The admission At his first appearance, Fabrizio Collini tells Caspar Leinen that he killed Hans Meyer, but refuses to discuss why.

A Silent Defendant The admission At his first appearance, Fabrizio Collini tells Caspar Leinen that he killed Hans Meyer, but refuses to discuss why. He accepts the fact of his guilt without helping construct a defense. A difficult brief Leinen must represent a man who will not explain himself, while discovering that he once belonged to the victim’s family circle. The case is both professional duty and private rupture.

The Motive Withheld The Motive Withheld from "The Collini Case". The Motive Withheld A stalled investigation Police searches reveal no obvious link between the retired toolmaker and the industrialist.

The Motive Withheld from "The Collini Case". The Motive Withheld A stalled investigation Police searches reveal no obvious link between the retired toolmaker and the industrialist.

The Motive Withheld A stalled investigation Police searches reveal no obvious link between the retired toolmaker and the industrialist. Collini has no criminal record and keeps refusing to explain the killing. The cost of silence Leinen persuades him to confess to the act, hoping that a candid account might matter to sentencing. The confession confirms what happened but leaves the central question unanswered.

The Family Record The Family Record from "The Collini Case". The Family Record A buried history Leinen’s courtroom statement follows documents from Ludwigsburg back to wartime Genoa.

The Family Record from "The Collini Case". The Family Record A buried history Leinen’s courtroom statement follows documents from Ludwigsburg back to wartime Genoa.

The Family Record A buried history Leinen’s courtroom statement follows documents from Ludwigsburg back to wartime Genoa. It connects Meyer’s wartime command to a reprisal execution and to the destruction of Collini’s family. A transformed case The defendant’s silence finally gives way to a history that the investigation had failed to uncover. What had looked like inexplicable murder becomes an act rooted in a decades-old injustice.

A Trial Without Judgment A Trial Without Judgment from "The Collini Case". A Trial Without Judgment The defendant’s death Fabrizio Collini dies by suicide in his cell before the proceedings can reach a verdict.

A Trial Without Judgment from "The Collini Case". A Trial Without Judgment The defendant’s death Fabrizio Collini dies by suicide in his cell before the proceedings can reach a verdict.

A Trial Without Judgment The defendant’s death Fabrizio Collini dies by suicide in his cell before the proceedings can reach a verdict. The court formally terminates the trial, leaving no judicial finding on his guilt or the history revealed in court. An unfinished answer His final photograph and apology leave Leinen with a personal reminder of the life behind the case. The truth has surfaced, but neither the defendant nor the courtroom can complete the reckoning.

23 May 2001, evening

The day after the killing

The six months before the trial

During the middle days of the trial

The morning after the trial’s later hearings