Kriti Mehrotra
It was in 2010 when betrayal and violence came to a head for 76-year-old art gallery owner Giovanni Schubert as he was heinously murdered in his beloved hometown of Milan, Italy. After all, as briefly explored in Netflix’s ‘Paparazzi King,’ the man later deemed responsible was none other than his family friend, fellow art enthusiast, and mentee, Matteo Chigorno. The two men once walked together in their beautiful, creative world without any issues, but it eventually culminated in an unspeakable homicide that no one could have ever seen coming.
Matteo Chigorno Had a Checkered Past
Born in the 1970s into a cultured, supportive household, Matteo Chigorno reportedly grew up surrounded by both historic and visionary environments that paved his future over time. He developed a keen interest in art, which he chose to embrace almost as soon as he could, by garnering extensive knowledge while also navigating the spaces that showcased it. Therefore, once he was in his 20s with the absolute realization that a traditional career was not for him, he reached out to an older family friend he had known his entire life for guidance.
Since Matteo was certain he wanted to pursue art, he contacted then 60-something-year-old Giovanni Schubert for an opportunity at his renowned Borgogna Gallery in the heart of Milan. According to records, Matteo viewed the entrepreneur more as a father figure than an employer, which is why he remained loyal for at least 9 years before deciding to spread his own wings. In 2007, he established Arte 2 Gallery with the goal of applying his learnings regarding client relationships, high-value demands, and transactional operations to maximize profits.
When Matteo’s business didn’t pan out as he had expected, he shut everything down and reconnected with his still-active former mentor. The duo subsequently began collaborating on various deals/projects, with Giovanni even trusting the youngster to such an extent that he had “full access” to all of Borgogna’s storage facilities. That’s when he allegedly stole two artworks worth over €100,000 in total, as per official police records. He was admittedly facing bankruptcy following the failure of his gallery, so he did what he believed was necessary to survive.
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While Matteo had allegedly hoped Giovanni wouldn’t notice the two missing pieces owing to the extensive collection he had, the latter obviously did and soon also realized who was responsible. Therefore, at around 7:30 pm on March 3, 2010, the entrepreneur visited his mentee’s house in Via Donna Prassede, hoping to reconcile their issues and bring matters to a close. They had their scheduled meeting in the garage, where Giovanni asked for the paintings back, only for Matteo to assert that he had already sold them for €35,000, as he needed the cash badly.
Giovanni subsequently asked his employee to pay him the real cost of the painting for his loss, or he would reveal everything to his family, which made Matteo snap. As per the latter’s own confession, he pushed the 76-year-old before grabbing a piece of iron kept nearby and hitting him with it until he realized what he had done. It was already too late by this point since the art gallery owner had passed away, so he freaked out and returned inside before coming back to the gallery a few hours later. He was reportedly determined to dispose of the remains in the hopes the crime could not be connected back to him, but to no avail. When Matteo tried stuffing the remains into the victim’s own SUV, he was unable to because he lacked the strength, so he came up with the macabre solution of dismembering him. The 36-year-old grabbed large knives from his home, dismembered his family friend, and placed him in several plastic bags and a suitcase before driving to dispose of them.
He threw the bags in the Via Gattinara canal, whereas he hid the suitcase under a mattress in the yard of an abandoned farmhouse. Then, he hid the murder weapon as well as the bloody clothes on a property belonging to the victim, only to then return home to clean up the scene. It was while he was doing so that officials arrived at his place, having received a missing person’s report from Giovanni’s family, who knew he had a meeting with Matteo. Not only did officials notice the blood on his pants, but Matteo almost immediately confessed to the crime too. The fact that his cell phone was found in a nearby trash can and the victim’s vehicle was still in his driveway led him to break, with him also revealing where he had disposed of the remains. So, in the end, Matteo was allowed to plead guilty to one count of voluntary manslaughter, for which he was sentenced to life in prison. Thus, today, in his early 50s, he remains incarcerated at the high-security Opera Prison in Milan, Italy.
