Mario Spezi

{{Short description|Italian journalist and author (1945–2016)}}

{{More citations needed|date=April 2021}}

{{Infobox writer

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| name = Mario Spezi

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| image = file:Mario Spezi (cropped 2).jpg

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| caption = Spezi in 2010

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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1945|07|30|df=yes}}

| birth_place = Sant'Angelo in Vado, Marche, Kingdom of Italy

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|09|09|1945|07|30|df=yes}}

| death_place = Florence, Tuscany, Italy

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| occupation = Journalist, Paese Sera and La Nazione

| language = Italian

| nationality = Italy

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| notable_works = The Monster of Florence (with Douglas Preston)

| spouse = Miriam Spezi

| children = 1

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Mario Spezi (July 30, 1945 – September 9, 2016) was an Italian journalist, author, illustrator, and caricaturist.{{Cite web |last=Child |first=Douglas Preston and Lincoln |title=Monster of Florence |url=https://www.prestonchild.com/books/preston/monsterofflorence/In-Memoriam-Mario-Spezi;art165,585 |access-date=2022-03-10 |website=prestonchild.com}} He wrote the non-fiction true crime books Dolci Colline di Sangue (2006) and Il Mostro di Firenze (1983).{{Cite book |last=Spezi |first=Mario |title=Il Mostro di Firenze |publisher=Gruppo Editoriale Fabbri |year=1983 |language=Italian}} He was a co-author in the book The Monster of Florence A True Story (2008) with American author Douglas Preston. Additionally, he was credited by Preston for providing details used in the novel Brimstone.

Spezi spent much of his career as a crime reporter for the La Nazione{{Cite web|last=Preston|first=Douglas|date=2006-07-01|title=The Monster of Florence|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2006/07/the-monster-of-florence/304981/|access-date=2021-07-05|website=The Atlantic|language=en}} newspaper in Florence, where he reported on the case of the notorious serial killer known as the Monster of Florence. He even spent 23 days in prison on charges of impeding the investigation by prosecutor Giuliano Mignini, though the charges were overturned on appeal. It was later decided that he was jailed illegally and without ample evidence of a crime.{{Cite web |last=Child |first=Douglas Preston and Lincoln |title=Monster of Florence |url=https://www.prestonchild.com/books/preston/monsterofflorence/In-Memoriam-Mario-Spezi;art165,585 |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=prestonchild.com}}

Later, Spezi even apologized to Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito in the case of the murder of Meredith Kercher, another of Mignini's cases.

Spezi also wrote the film Il Mostro Di Firenze (1986), based on his novel. The film aired in Italy and the United States.

Spezi was a Roman Catholic.{{citation|last1=Preston |first1=Douglas |author1-link=Douglas Preston|first2=Mario |last2=Spezi|title=The Monster of Florence A True Story|date=June 19, 2008|publisher=Grand Central Publishing|isbn=978-0-446-58119-6|at=Chapter 6}}

As a result of a long illness, Spezi died on September 9, 2016. Following his death, Mediaset, an Italian mass media company, described Spezi as journalist who was "able to tell a story and analyze the facts by digging deeper in places where other journalists were afraid to look."{{Cite web |last=Child |first=Douglas Preston and Lincoln |title=Monster of Florence |url=https://www.prestonchild.com/books/preston/monsterofflorence/In-Memoriam-Mario-Spezi;art165,585 |access-date=2022-03-09 |website=prestonchild.com}}