Rome Reopens the Pasolini File, Fifty-One Years On

Rome has authorised a fresh investigation into the murder of Pier Paolo Pasolini, the poet, novelist and filmmaker who was found bludgeoned to death in 1975, the New York Times reported on Monday. The paper noted that a young escort confessed to the killing but changed his account over the years, leaving the case unsettled.

The Local Italy, citing Agence France-Presse, reported that prosecutors had re-opened the investigation and that the request had come from a lawyer in the case, who spoke to the agency on Monday. Neither account set out in detail the grounds for the new inquiry.

That restraint is worth keeping. A reopened file is not a charge, and whether it produces an indictment, a new suspect or nothing at all depends on evidence the foreign coverage has not yet described. Both reports record a decision to look again, not a conclusion.