Valter Lavitola, businessman and former journalist-publisher, has been entered in the register of suspects by the Rome District Anti-Mafia Directorate as the presumed mastermind of the bombing against Report host Sigfrido Ranucci, which occurred on October 16, 2025 in Campo Ascolano, a district of Pomezia, under the family car parked outside the journalist's home.

Search and seizures Carabinieri from the Investigative Unit of Rome and Frascati, acting on a warrant from Dda prosecutors, carried out a search at Lavitola's residence. During the operation, mobile phones, computers and other electronic devices were seized and will be subjected to technical analysis to find elements useful in clarifying the motive of the attack, which the Prosecution is still actively investigating.

The four arrests and the charges The development leading to Lavitola's involvement follows by a few days the arrest of four individuals considered the material executors of the attack: Antonio Passariello, 53, originally from Cicciano; Saverio Mutone, resident of Sperone; Pellegrino D'Avino and his wife Marika De Filippi, residents of Avella. The four were apprehended between Naples and Avellino.

Lavitola and the four arrested individuals are charged, jointly, with possession, transport in a public place and use of an explosive device, as well as threat and criminal damage, aggravated by having acted in a group of more than five people and with mafioso methods. According to several outlets, the charge of massacre (strage) is also contested. The total number of suspects is six, in addition to Lavitola.

The intermediary: Gomes Celesio Tavares According to investigators' reconstruction, an intermediary acted as a go-between connecting Lavitola with the group of material executors. The intermediary is Gomes Celesio Tavares, 47, a Cameroonian citizen employed at the Roman restaurant managed by Lavitola in the Monteverde district. Tavares is reportedly now back in Cameroon. The analysis of phones, contacts and computers of the four arrested individuals allegedly enabled investigators to reconstruct two additional levels of the organization: the arrested individuals reported to Tavares, who in turn was in contact with Lavitola. According to Repubblica, Lavitola also carried out a reconnaissance under Ranucci's home together with Tavares in the week preceding the attack.

The relationship between Ranucci and Lavitola Ranucci expressed astonishment at the news of the investigation into Lavitola, calling him a friend. In statements to Repubblica and Corriere della Sera, the host said he was dismayed and trusted the investigation by the Prosecution and Carabinieri, adding that he is convinced Lavitola would never have wanted to harm him or his family. According to reports, the two had been in contact almost daily since 2019. In May 2023 they were photographed together at a dinner at the Cefalù restaurant in Monteverde, owned by Lavitola, along with other guests including Monsignor Giovanni Fusco, a collaborator of Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Lavitola, when questioned by investigators, reportedly stated he would not comment, adding that he would speak when he gets out of prison.

The motive: lines of inquiry The investigation into the motive of the attack is still ongoing. According to Il Fatto Quotidiano, there appear to be no ongoing investigations or reports by the Report program concerning Lavitola, and it is believed unlikely that the attack was linked to Ranucci's journalistic work. Repubblica also reported the hypothesis, advanced by the Prosecution, that the attack may have aimed to increase the host's visibility, a hypothesis that remains under verification.

The investigation had initially been directed toward a Camorra trail, later excluded, also thanks to an anonymous email received in April by prosecutor Villani, titled "Easter Gift," which referenced the Moccia clan of Afragola and stated that Ranucci had not been wronged by the clan.

The investigation is coordinated by Chief Prosecutor Francesco Lo Voi, initiated by prosecutor Carlo Villani, who has since moved to direct the Velletri prosecutor's office, and is now handled by Dda deputy prosecutor Edoardo De Santis.

Who is Valter Lavitola Originally from Salerno, born in 1966, Lavitola had a background in the Socialist Party before moving closer to the center-right. He directed the newspaper L'Avanti! and ran as a candidate for Forza Italia in the 2004 European elections. His name is linked to several judicial matters: the 2010 publication of a document regarding the Monte Carlo apartment connected to Gianfranco Fini's brother-in-law; the 2011 period as a fugitive in Latin America; a 2012 plea bargain of three years and eight months for fraud involving public publishing funds; a 2013 conviction of two years and eight months for attempted extortion against Silvio Berlusconi; a 2015 first-instance conviction of three years for corruption in the so-called senator-buying affair, a charge later declared time-barred by the Court of Cassation. In 2015 the Court of Auditors ordered the restitution of over 23 million euros in public publishing subsidies. In 2016, after approximately four years of detention, he was placed under house arrest. Since then he had been running a fish restaurant in Rome.

Political reaction Fratelli d'Italia called for clarity on the investigations, stating that theories regarding the involvement of the government have been disproven and demanding that full truth be reached.