# 2 Unsolved True Crime Cases

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 2 Oct 2025, 21 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO3226399929.mp3

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## Transcript

[0:00] In March 1998, a brutal crime in an Italian town shocked Italy
[0:04] and made national headlines. Nadia Rochia, an 18 year old
[0:09] student from Castelluccio de Sauri, was found dead in a
[0:13] garage under mysterious circumstances.
[0:16] What initially appeared to be self-inflicted quickly unraveled
[0:20] into something far more sinister.
[0:23] Nadia had actually been slain by her two best friends in a coldly
[0:27] premeditated plot. The case became notorious not
[0:31] only for the heartbreaking betrayal, but also for the
[0:34] strange hints of the occult that emerged during the
[0:37] investigation. Nadia Rochia was a bright, well
[0:43] liked high school senior in her hometown of Castelluccio de
[0:46] Sauri in southern Italy. She had been close friends with
[0:50] two classmates, Ana Maria Botticelli and Mariana Sica,
[0:55] since childhood. The trio often studied together
[0:58] and shared dreams of leaving their small town to start a new
[1:01] life in America. After graduation, Nadia
[1:05] initially offered to help her friends achieve this goal,
[1:09] promising that her uncle in the States could assist them once
[1:12] they finish school. However, she later retracted
[1:16] that promise, realizing it wouldn't be possible since she
[1:19] made this promise without consulting her uncle and without
[1:23] knowing the immigration system. This reversal upset her two
[1:27] friends deeply, and feeling betrayed over their dashed
[1:30] American Dream, Botticelli and Zika began to harbor resentment
[1:35] toward Nadia, According to one version of these tangled events.
[1:40] That broken trust from this seemingly small event turned to
[1:43] simmering jealousy and would soon turn deadly.
[1:49] Determined to make Nadia pay for what they saw as disloyalty,
[1:53] Botticelli and Zika spent months plotting to eliminate her.
[1:57] They even experimented with different methods.
[2:00] At one point, they tried to poison her by secretly spiking a
[2:04] drink with rat poison, but Nadia fortunately refused to drink it,
[2:09] sensing something was off. Personally, if I was Nadia, the
[2:14] rat poison cocktail may have been my cue to go to the cops.
[2:18] But hey, I'm not an Italian teenage girl circa the 1990s, at
[2:23] least last time I checked. After a number of buffoonish
[2:29] failed attempts that read something like the CIA trying to
[2:32] knock off Castro, the pair decided on a more direct
[2:35] approach. They also simultaneously
[2:38] prepared a cover story so they could get away with it.
[2:41] They tricked Nadia into signing a blank sheet of paper under
[2:44] some pretext, intending to use her real signature on a letter.
[2:48] Later, that letter would explain to investigators why she had
[2:52] chosen to do this to herself. Botticelli also sowed rumors
[2:57] that Nadia had a crush on her, a lie that would reinforce the
[3:01] narrative in the note. All these steps show the
[3:04] deliberate and cold blooded planning behind their actions.
[3:10] On March 14th, 1998, the two friends put their grim plan into
[3:15] action. Under the guise of an ordinary
[3:18] study meet up, they lured Nadia to the Botticelli family's
[3:21] garage that afternoon. Once Nadia was inside and off
[3:25] guard, they attacked Mariana. Sika crept behind Nadia and
[3:29] yanked A scarf tightly around her neck, while Anna Maria
[3:33] Botticelli held Nadia down. Nadia struggled, but together
[3:38] the two managed to strangle her to death.
[3:40] With Nadia's lifeless body on the ground, the two girls
[3:44] immediately set about staging the scene.
[3:47] Also, as a quick aside, I'm not sure how any of this was
[3:51] supposed to help these two idiots get to the States, but I
[3:54] digress. They tied a rope around Nadia's
[3:59] neck, though notably, her body was found on the floor with no
[4:03] high ligature point, a detail that would later raise
[4:06] suspicions. Next, they placed a typewritten
[4:10] note nearby, which they had composed beforehand, and which
[4:14] was supposed to wrap everything up in a nice, neat little
[4:17] package using the sheet signed by Nadia.
[4:21] The note was crafted to sound as if Nadia wrote it herself.
[4:25] In it, she supposedly confessed to being a lesbian in love with
[4:28] Anna Maria Botticelli and claimed she couldn't go on
[4:32] living with this secret. Anna Maria Botticelli was
[4:35] supposedly just that, alluring that life without her was just
[4:38] straight up pointless. Wow, totally not suspicious at
[4:43] all. The letter even went so far as
[4:47] to include a makeshift will where Nadia supposedly said that
[4:51] she wanted her two friends to have all her savings and
[4:53] possessions. In a final deranged twist, this
[4:58] was supposed to be so they could go on an all expenses paid trip
[5:01] to the United States. After arranging this scene to
[5:06] tell a false story, the 2 girls left the garage to make their
[5:11] ruse convincing. Botticelli and Zika then ran to
[5:14] Nadia's mother in a panic, claiming Nadia had suddenly
[5:17] fallen ill and locked herself in the garage alone.
[5:22] They returned with Nadia's family and discovered the
[5:25] horrific scene. They had staged Nadia on the
[5:28] ground with a rope around her neck and the dramatic goodbye
[5:31] letter. The community was stunned and
[5:34] initially believed the story, but investigators at the scene
[5:38] noticed that certain clues didn't add up.
[5:43] From the outset, police found the stage scenario dubious.
[5:48] The tone and details of the type note struck them as unnatural
[5:51] for a genuine goodbye note, and its instructions conveniently
[5:55] rewarded Nadia's friends. Physical evidence at the scene
[5:59] also contradicted a hanging, since the body was on the floor
[6:03] and there was no viable way Nadia could have suspended
[6:06] herself. And it's not just that the 2
[6:08] girls tried to put her up somewhere and underestimated how
[6:12] hard this would be to do, it's that it was an impossibility.
[6:18] These inconsistencies prompted a deeper investigation almost
[6:22] immediately, and an autopsy soon confirmed that Nadia's cause of
[6:26] death was strangulation, with signs pointing to something much
[6:30] darker. Suspicion quickly fell on the
[6:32] last people to see her alive, her 2 supposed best friends.
[6:38] When questioned, the 2 girls stuck to their story and played
[6:42] dumb, but they agreed to let the cops look through their
[6:45] possessions to prove their innocence.
[6:50] But as investigators searched their belongings, they uncovered
[6:53] something startling. Both girls bedrooms were
[6:56] overflowing with satanic and occult goods.
[6:59] And I'm not talking about some Magic the Gathering cards a La
[7:03] Boo Boo or a copy of Final Fantasy 3 here.
[7:07] Though to be honest, if the cops stumbled across a La Boo Boo
[7:11] find in 98, that would be highly disturbing indeed.
[7:17] Police found strange esoteric symbols and objects associated
[7:21] with Satanism and black magic. Coupled with the lack of an
[7:25] obvious conventional motive, these discoveries raised the
[7:29] possibility that Nadia's slaying had been part of a cult like
[7:32] ritual. Hoping for more insight,
[7:37] detectives secretly bugged the suspects conversations.
[7:41] The recordings made the case even more bizarre.
[7:44] Botticelli and Sika were overheard whispering eerie,
[7:47] cryptic phrases, praising Lucifer and talking about the
[7:50] Devil. These unsettling exchanges,
[7:53] combined with the occult items found lent credibility to the
[7:57] theory that the girls might have eliminated their friend as part
[8:00] of an occult ritual. For a short time, the Satanic
[8:04] ritual hypothesis was taken seriously.
[8:09] The media reported on the possibility of devil worship
[8:12] playing a role in the crime. However, investigators soon took
[8:17] the position that these occult clues were an elaborate
[8:20] smokescreen. They began to believe Botticelli
[8:23] and Sika had planted the Satanist materials and
[8:27] intentionally talked about Lucifer to mislead the police.
[8:31] In other words, under this theory, the teenagers tried to
[8:35] create a fake occult narrative to divert attention from their
[8:39] true motive or to create an insanity defense.
[8:45] Confronted with the autopsy results, the inconsistencies,
[8:49] and the intercepted conversation about the occult, the 2 girls
[8:53] sang like satanic Canaries. They even agreed to reenact the
[8:57] crime at the garage, demonstrating to police how they
[9:00] strangled their friend. With the truth of their guilt
[9:05] established, attention turned to why Botticelli and Zika
[9:09] committed such an atrocious act. The occult angle was ultimately
[9:14] dismissed as fabricated by the investigators.
[9:17] Still, Botticelli attempted to offer a more fleshed out
[9:20] supernatural explanation for their actions that went beyond
[9:24] simple run-of-the-mill devil worship.
[9:27] She told investigators that Mariana, Sika's deceased father,
[9:30] had appeared in her dream and instructed her to sacrifice
[9:33] Nadia. According to this bizarre claim,
[9:37] the deceased father claimed that a demon demanded Nadia's death
[9:41] as part of a pact, and these brides of Baphomet had no choice
[9:45] but to obey. Officials didn't find this story
[9:51] credible at all because they believed the girls were under
[9:54] the impression if they were found insane, there wouldn't be
[9:57] any consequences. In essence, the authorities
[10:01] believed that the 2 girls thought that a finding of
[10:04] insanity means you get to go home and then hop on a plane to
[10:08] America. Psychological evaluations
[10:12] declared both girls perfectly sane and fully accountable for
[10:16] their deeds. That said, this doesn't disprove
[10:20] that they weren't motivated by a belief in Satan.
[10:23] It just means that they weren't suffering from psychosis at the
[10:27] time of the attack on Nadia. Whether the slaying of Nadia was
[10:32] actually a cult motivated or not remains hotly debated.
[10:37] Given that virtually nothing about their motive or actions
[10:40] makes sense, and given that occult materials were found in
[10:43] their possession, I don't believe it can be ruled out.
[10:49] Another theory floated by a prosecutor was that the 2 girls
[10:52] were romantically involved with each other.
[10:55] If this was accurate, Nadia had become an obstacle or unwanted
[10:58] third wheel in their relationship.
[11:01] Under this idea, jealousy or fear of Nadia revealing their
[11:05] secret could have driven them to eliminate her.
[11:09] This motive remains speculative and was never proven in court,
[11:13] but it added another possible lurid dimension to the case.
[11:17] In the end, no definitive single motive was officially confirmed,
[11:21] and it literally may have been as simple as revenge for not
[11:24] getting help in going to America.
[11:29] In 1999, a court convicted both and initially sentenced them to
[11:33] life in prison. Their youth, in the unusual
[11:36] circumstances of the case, led to multiple appeals.
[11:40] In 2001, an appeals court reduced their sentences to 25
[11:44] years each, but they continued to appeal.
[11:48] In 2003, this led to a plea bargain that set their sentences
[11:52] at 21 years, though neither of them would end up serving their
[11:55] full sentence. Around 15 years after the event,
[12:01] in 2013, Mariana Zika was released from prison on good
[12:05] behavior. Anna Maria Botticelli was
[12:08] released a few months later, though for her this was due to
[12:12] her ill health from multiple sclerosis.
[12:16] Upon release, the two were given new identities and reportedly
[12:19] settled in different regions of Italy to live in anonymity.
[12:23] Nothing is publicly known about their lives after prison, and if
[12:27] you're one of my viewers in Italy, well, one of them could
[12:31] be your neighbor and you wouldn't even know it.
[12:34] Unless one of them writes a book, it seems unlikely that
[12:38] we'll ever know their true motivation for this horrible act
[12:42] against Nadia. Hey everyone, Jimmy reminding
[12:48] you to like and subscribe and to tap the notification bell.
[12:52] Also, once you're done with this video, check out my other
[12:55] channel, Lazy Chill True Crime, where I deal with solved cases.
[13:04] Imagine receiving your son's body back from an overseas
[13:07] holiday, only to discover that a vital organ is missing.
[13:11] Bali is often thought of as a tropical paradise, a place of
[13:15] beaches, temples and vibrant nightlife.
[13:19] But for the Hatto family, it became the setting of an
[13:22] unfathomable tragedy. Their 23 year old son, Byron
[13:27] Hatto, died there under mysterious circumstances in
[13:30] 2025. And as if that weren't enough,
[13:34] his body was returned home without his heart.
[13:37] This shocking turn of events cast a grim spotlight on the
[13:40] case, raising urgent questions about what really happened to
[13:44] Byron and why his heart was left behind.
[13:49] Byron Hatta was a young mine worker from Queensland who
[13:52] traveled to Bali for a much needed holiday in May 2025.
[13:57] He was staying with a friend at a private villa in Bali's
[14:00] Seminoke tourist area. On the morning of May 26th,
[14:04] 2025, that getaway turned to tragedy.
[14:09] Byron was found unresponsive face down in the villa's pool.
[14:13] Local authorities initially declared that he had drowned,
[14:17] and a death certificate was issued, citing this as the
[14:19] cause. Notably, it remains unclear
[14:23] whether Byron was officially pronounced dead at the villa or
[14:26] at a hospital later, one of many details of this case that
[14:30] remained murky. Those with him even told Byron's
[14:35] family that no foul play was suspected and that he had simply
[14:38] drowned in the pool by accident. However, details soon emerged
[14:44] that made his death anything but a straightforward accident.
[14:48] Although Byron's body was discovered on May 26th, the
[14:52] incident wasn't reported to police until four days later.
[14:56] By this time, the scene had likely been disturbed and
[14:59] critical evidence contaminated. This unexplained delay was a
[15:03] major red flag. It also emerged that three
[15:07] Australians, a friend of Byron's and two women had been at the
[15:11] villa that night and left Bali soon after without ever being
[15:16] questioned by police. This fact angered the family
[15:20] since these witnesses might hold vital information about Byron's
[15:24] final hours. Further red flags surfaced when
[15:29] Byron's body was examined. The towels used to wrap his body
[15:33] were reportedly bloody and he had multiple cuts and bruises on
[15:37] him. An autopsy in Bali confirmed
[15:41] bruises on his forehead, on one of his eyelids, and a knee
[15:45] injury consistent with blunt force trauma, along with
[15:48] evidence of bleeding and head injury.
[15:52] These injuries are, of course, incredibly difficult to
[15:54] reconcile with a simple drowning.
[15:57] Because of these findings, Balines police treated the death
[16:00] as suspicious and the Hadow family insisted on an in depth
[16:04] post mortem. They even had a family friend
[16:08] arrange an autopsy at Bali's main hospital so an independent
[16:11] examination could be done. Doctor Gnawan, A forensic
[16:16] specialist in the area, conducted the autopsy and found
[16:19] elevated alcohol levels and the presence of an antidepressant
[16:23] called duloxetine and Byron system.
[16:28] She noted that this combination could have impaired his ability
[16:30] to pull himself out of the water, supporting a possible
[16:34] accidental drowning scenario. However, Doctor Ghanawan
[16:38] couldn't conclusively determine the cause of death, and her
[16:41] report suggested drowning was likely but not proven.
[16:45] She was especially concerned given the unexplained injuries
[16:48] that still raised numerous unanswered questions.
[16:52] Byron's body remained in Bali during these examinations and
[16:56] was finally flown home to Brisbane about 3 1/2 weeks later
[17:00] on June 18th, 2025. And that's when this disturbing
[17:06] and odd tragedy began to develop into a full on international
[17:10] incident. During a second autopsy in
[17:15] Queensland in Australia, just two days before Byron's
[17:18] scheduled funeral, officials discovered that his heart was
[17:21] missing. No one had warned his parents
[17:24] that Bali doctors had removed and kept his heart after the
[17:28] initial autopsy, so the family was blindsided by this
[17:32] development. Byron's mother recalled that her
[17:35] own heart sank upon hearing the news, and it was an almost
[17:39] unthinkable blow after all they've been through.
[17:43] To make matters worse, they were asked to pay 700 bucks to have
[17:48] the organ shipped back. The family was outraged, calling
[17:52] it an inhumane and devastating shock.
[17:57] Even the Australian consulate in Bali was unaware of the heart's
[18:01] removal, according to Byron's parents, making the situation
[18:05] all the more alarming. This bizarre episode naturally
[18:08] fueled public speculation of sinister motives or a cover up.
[18:13] However, Balines authorities denied any foul play or organ
[18:18] theft regarding the missing heart.
[18:22] The hospital in Bali explained that retaining the heart was a
[18:25] standard procedure during a forensic autopsy done at the
[18:28] police's request for further pathological analysis.
[18:33] Under Indonesian law, no family consent is required for such
[18:37] examinations, and they pointed out, pathologists worldwide
[18:41] often temporarily remove organs for further testing.
[18:45] Notably, they don't appear to have commented on keeping the
[18:48] organs indefinitely and if that's also industry standard,
[18:52] worldwide. According to the hospital,
[18:58] Byron's heart was kept only until all testing was completed
[19:02] and was then returned through official channels for
[19:04] repatriation. In the view of Indonesian
[19:08] officials, nothing nefarious occurred, which doesn't surprise
[19:12] me since they were investigating themselves.
[19:15] But the lack of communication about this process caused
[19:19] tremendous distress for the family and cast a shadow of
[19:23] suspicion over the case. At this point, Byron's cause of
[19:30] death remains officially undetermined and multiple
[19:33] theories have emerged. The initial toxicology results
[19:37] pointed toward an accident, and this is what the Indonesian
[19:41] authorities continue to maintain.
[19:43] Shortly after his death, his mother publicly questioned how
[19:47] her fit, healthy 23 year old son could have wound up dead in the
[19:52] villa pool with significant evidence of physical trauma.
[19:57] The family has retained a lawyer to advocate for justice for
[20:00] Byron. This attorney noted that Byron's
[20:03] bruises, bleeding and head trauma are inconsistent with the
[20:07] notion that he simply slipped and drowned.
[20:11] Reinforcing their suspicions of foul play instead, the family
[20:16] firmly suspects foul play was involved and believes he may
[20:19] have been dosed for the purposes of a robbery.
[20:24] As of this writing, active investigations are currently
[20:28] underway in both countries. In Queensland, the State
[20:31] Coroner's inquiry is re examining all the evidence and
[20:35] no findings have been released yet from that inquiry.
[20:39] In Bali, police have reopened their probe and have requested
[20:43] help from the Australian Federal Police to locate and interview
[20:47] the three Australians who were with Byron.
[20:50] Indonesian investigators say they need the witness's
[20:53] testimony to fill in the timeline, but as of yet, those
[20:57] key accounts remain missing. Interestingly, of course, they
[21:01] didn't need this testimony to draw a conclusion before the
[21:04] family hired a lawyer and turn this into an international
[21:07] incident anyway. So far, no clear answers have
[21:13] emerged and no one has been charged as of yet.
[21:16] All that said, at least to me, nothing really properly adds up
[21:20] here.

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