Cortes Island is a peaceful place but the serenity was shattered nine years ago when wealthy artist Stefanio Savioli was killed in his secluded, hill-top cabin.
It happened in August of 2010 and friends say the 60-year-old was brutally murdered in his bed.
“We saw the blood,” says close friend Stefano Perdisa. “You could stand in the loft and there was some blood spray on the ceiling of his roof.”
RCMP aren’t releasing any information about the case, which remains unsolved, so Savioli’s son in Italy is now appealing for help.
“Every single day I think about that night, what happened, and it is very hard,” Cristiano Savioli says.
He’s now offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of whoever is responsible.
“This is the worst piece of the story because, actually, we don’t know nothing,” Cristiano Savioli explains. “Police don’t want to talk about this case.”
Savioli was one of the the Island’s most colourful residents.
He’d lived on Cortes for three decades and his generosity was legendary.
Savioli’s wife, Abigail, who was in Campbell River the night of the killing, says nothing was taken.
But her husband also had a dark side and for the last nine years, speculation’s been rampant — from a paid assassin, to the Italian mafia, and even fellow islanders.
CBC’s The 5th Estate is investigating the cold case and Cristiano Savioli is hopeful the media attention will lead to a break.
He admits he had a difficult relationship with his father, and had only just re-connected with him a couple months before the murder.
“This is my biggest regret,” he says.
Cristiano Savioli says he feels like he was robbed and desperately wants closure.
Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or click on this link.
Tess van Straaten
