A 10-year-old murder case has been reopened after DNA on chewing gum found in the victim’s bed was linked to a suspect.

Giuliano Gilardi, 61, was stabbed to death in his apartment in the town of Saint-Christophe in the north-western Italian region of Aosta Valley on the morning of 27th December 2011.

Four suspects were investigated for the murder: construction worker Salvatore Agostino, the victim’s last partner Cinzia Guinzetti, her ex-husband Armando Mammoliti, and his employee Domenico Mammoliti.

The Aosta Prosecutor’s Office reopened the investigation after DNA extracted from chewing gum found in the bed where the victim’s body was discovered was found to belong to Agostino, who had denied having anything to do with the murder at the time, despite having an extensive criminal record.

The prime suspect had previously been Guinzetti, who was the first person to discover the body.

The initial investigation concluded that the victim, who had a daughter from a previous marriage, was first struck on the head with a heavy object before being stabbed several times.

Investigators noted strange behaviour from Guinzetti: she had deleted several messages and also denied any tensions in her relationship with the victim.

The police hypothesised at the time that she was afraid her partner would leave her, so she either killed him out of jealousy herself or had him killed. However, her guilt could not be proven at the time.

Investigators took 160 DNA samples from the crime scene, but none had been matched to anyone until now, and the authorities now hope the case can be solved.

With the reopening of the case, Guinzetti remains a suspect and will be investigated for complicity in aggravated murder.

A hearing in which the new DNA evidence will be presented is scheduled for 3rd February.