Paramedic ‘Driven By Urge To Kill’ Accused Of Killing Six Elderly, Sick Patients During Ambulance Journeys In Italy | Sahara Reporters
The 28-year-old, who denies the allegations, is currently in custody and is scheduled to face trial over the death of 85-year-old Deanna Mambelli at the Court of Assizes in Forli on October 15.
Italian ambulance driver Luca Spada has been accused of killing six elderly and sick patients by allegedly injecting air into their veins during ambulance journeys in Italy.
According to The Sun, prosecutors allege that Spada deliberately caused fatal air embolisms in patients and selected elderly and seriously ill people as part of what investigators described as predatory behaviour.
Spada was driven by an “uncontrollable” urge to kill, it is alleged.
The 28-year-old, who denies the allegations, is currently in custody and is scheduled to face trial over the death of 85-year-old Deanna Mambelli at the Court of Assizes in Forli on October 15.
Mambelli died on November 25, 2025, while being transported by ambulance. Prosecutors allege that Spada injected air through her intravenous line, while an autopsy reportedly found evidence consistent with death from a gas embolism.
The case is the only one among the six deaths for which Spada is currently facing a murder trial, while investigations into five other deaths continue.
The five other patients named in the investigation are Mirella Montanari, Francesco Mario Scavone, Edoarda Gasperini, Vincenzo Pesci and Vittorio Benini. Investigators are examining whether their deaths were connected to ambulance journeys involving Spada and whether the same method was used.
A specialist unit of Italy’s Carabinieri military police was commissioned to assess Spada’s personality during the investigation.
The report, cited by prosecutors, allegedly described an “internal, obsessive and uncontrollable motivational drive” and said his choice of elderly and sick victims was consistent with “predatory and serial” behaviour.
Investigators also examined an incident in which Spada was treated in hospital for an embolism. They are reportedly considering whether he deliberately caused the condition himself to test or improve the alleged method used against the patients.
Police also recovered photographs and messages allegedly posted by Spada in group chats between late 2024 and early 2025. Some of the material showed him posing around coffins, hearses, exhumations and cremation equipment, while colleagues reportedly alerted investigators after his arrest in April.
The investigation began after colleagues raised concerns about a number of unusual deaths involving patients during or shortly after non-emergency ambulance transfers.
Italian investigators had also been examining ambulance journeys and monitoring Spada before his arrest, after reports of an unusually high number of deaths linked to transports in which he was present.
Investigators reportedly obtained phone recordings in which Spada allegedly spoke about elderly patients and expressed a desire to kill again. Prosecutors relied on the evidence, along with the psychological assessment, when opposing his request to be transferred from prison to house arrest.
The request for house arrest was rejected after prosecutors argued that the assessment indicated a high risk of repeated offending. Spada remains in custody and has continued to deny the accusations against him.
The Forli Court of Assizes is expected to begin the trial on October 15 over Mambelli’s death, while authorities continue investigating the five other deaths attributed to Spada.