In short
- Leonardo Bertulazzi, 74, was sentenced in absentia in Italy for the 1977 kidnapping of naval engineer Pietro Costa.
- Bertulazzi escaped house arrest in Buenos Aires by abseiling from a fifth-floor balcony in a harness and tampered with his electronic ankle tag so the alarm would not sound.
- He belonged to the Red Brigades’ Genoa section, which held Pietro Costa for 81 days before receiving a large ransom.
- Ransom money from that kidnapping bought a flat in Rome where former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro was held for 54 days in 1978 before being shot.
- Argentina granted Bertulazzi refugee status in 2004; he was re-arrested in 2024, after Javier Milei took office.
Leonardo Bertulazzi, a 74-year-old Italian convicted in absentia for the 1977 kidnapping of naval engineer Pietro Costa, escaped house arrest in Buenos Aires by abseiling from a fifth-floor balcony in a harness, Argentine authorities say. He was awaiting extradition to Italy, and a nationwide manhunt is under way.
How did Leonardo Bertulazzi escape house arrest?
Bertulazzi used a harness to descend from a fifth-floor balcony in the centre of Buenos Aires. Argentina’s ministry of security was monitoring him with an electronic ankle tag that records the wearer’s body temperature and movements. Officials grew suspicious when the tag stayed stationary; when they entered the apartment, Bertulazzi was gone and the monitor had been left behind.
Police called in explosives experts because of Bertulazzi’s history with the Marxist guerrilla group the Red Brigades and his bomb-making skills, the Argentine newspaper Clarín reported. The experts found that he had tampered with the device only to stop the alarm sounding once he took it off.
Why was Italy seeking his extradition?
Bertulazzi had spent decades as a fugitive after an Italian court sentenced him in absentia for the kidnapping of Pietro Costa. He was part of the Red Brigades’ Genoa section, which seized Costa on the street and held him for 81 days before receiving a large ransom. The Red Brigades kidnapped and killed a number of state officials in the 1970s and 1980s.
The ransom money was used to buy a flat in Rome that was later used for the group’s most notorious crime: the 1978 kidnapping and murder of former Italian prime minister Aldo Moro. Moro was abducted when his car was ambushed on the way to the opening of parliament, held in the flat for 54 days, then shot; his body was abandoned in the boot of a Renault in central Rome. Italian media said Bertulazzi’s extradition had been imminent after his last appeal was rejected.
How did Bertulazzi come to live in Argentina?
Bertulazzi was first arrested after crossing into Argentina from neighbouring Chile with a false passport in 2002. He was granted refugee status in 2004 and lived freely in the country until his re-arrest in 2024, when the right-wing president Javier Milei took office. Milei’s government said at the time that “Bertulazzi is responsible for crimes that undermined democratic values and the lives of many victims”.
Pope Leo XIV has also commented on Milei’s Argentina: he told Milei that the country’s economy must serve all and, on his first visit to Argentina, rebuked his austerity.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Leonardo Bertulazzi?
Leonardo Bertulazzi is a 74-year-old Italian convicted in absentia for the 1977 kidnapping of naval engineer Pietro Costa. He was a member of the Genoa section of the Marxist guerrilla group the Red Brigades.
How did he escape house arrest in Buenos Aires?
He used a harness to abseil from a fifth-floor balcony in central Buenos Aires and tampered with his electronic ankle tag so that it kept transmitting body temperature readings without triggering an alarm.
Why did Italy want him extradited?
An Italian court sentenced him in absentia over the Costa kidnapping. Italian media reported that his extradition had become imminent after his last appeal was rejected.
Where is Bertulazzi now?
His whereabouts are unknown. Argentine police launched a nationwide manhunt after finding the apartment empty and the ankle monitor left behind.
With reporting from BBC News.
Stock image, not from the events described. City Skyline — Joe deSousa / Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)
