A crime story that shocked the city
In the first half of the 19th century (around 1830), a young 25-year-old named Antonio Boggia worked at Palazzo Cusani, then the seat of the Austrian government.
Antonio’s job was to maintain the stoves and, thanks to his knowledge of the German language, he soon became the head of the complex heating system that supplied the palace during the coldest winter months.
But who was Antonio Boggia?
Born in Urio, Lake Como, in 1799, Antonio Boggia immediately made himself known for his bad intentions and habits.
Not yet 20 years old, he fled to the Kingdom of Sardinia, leaving Lombardy-Venetia, pursued by accusations of countless frauds. Here, however, he is soon imprisoned for attempted murder.
Taking advantage of a prison riot, he escaped and arrived in the city of Milan, which, unaware of his past, welcomed him with open arms.
His first home was in Via del Gesù but in 1831, after his marriage, he moved with his wife to Via Nerino 2 in the building owned by Ester Maria Perrocchio, who soon became one of his first victims.
On 16 February 1860, in fact, a certain Giovanni Mourier presented himself at the headquarters in Via della Moscova to report the disappearance of his 76-year-old mother, who had not been heard from for several months. The woman in question is Ester Maria Perrocchio.
As if that were not enough, it is discovered that Antonio Boggia had appointed himself factotum in place of the lady by increasing the rent to the tenants of the building without any justification.
After several investigations, strange facts linked to the figure of Boggia began to emerge, stories of murders, swindles and brawls dating back to the early 1950s that made the police suspicious.
Some tenants of the building in Via Nerino also begin to report certain bizarre facts to the authorities, such as having seen Boggia fiddling with bricks and sand in a warehouse in nearby Via Bagnera.
This is how they find the lifeless body of the brutally mutilated woman.
Investigating further, new scams and new victims soon emerge.
The biggest discovery that undoubtedly nails Boggia takes place in the cellar in Via Bagnera where, on the floor, the murderer had carved out enough space for three corpses.
Boggia was thus taken and locked up in San Vittore, where he tried to pass himself off as insane in order to avoid capital punishment, claiming that it was an inner voice ordering him to kill.
However, this theatrics were to no avail and Antonio Boggia was brought to the gallows on 8 April 1862, amidst a crowd of furious citizens, on a public ground adjacent to the Bastions between Porta Ludovica and Porta Vigentina.
His body was buried apart from his skull, which was later entrusted to Cesare Lombroso to devote himself to phrenological studies.
Image: Milano Today
