Italian serial killer Leonarda Cianciulli Leonarda Cianciulli mugshot Born ( 1894-04-14 ) 14 April 1894 Died 15 October 1970 (1970-10-15) (aged 76) Nationality Italian Other names "The Soap-Maker of Correggio" (Italian: la Saponificatrice di Correggio ) Known for Serial killer , cannibal Criminal charge 3 murders Criminal penalty 33 years of detention Leonarda Cianciulli (14 April 1894 – 15 October 1970) was an Italian serial killer . Better known as the Soap-Maker of Correggio (Italian: la Saponificatrice di Correggio ), [ 1 ] she murdered three women in the town of Correggio , Reggio Emilia , in 1939 and 1940, and turned their bodies into soap (using caustic soda ) and teacakes . Leonarda Cianciulli was born in Montella , Avellino , in what was then the Kingdom of Italy . She attempted suicide twice in her youth. In 1917, Cianciulli married a registry office clerk, Raffaele Pansardi. Her mother did not approve of the marriage, as she had planned to marry her to another man. Cianciulli later claimed that on this occasion her mother had cursed them. In 1921, the couple moved to Pansardi's native town of Lauria , Potenza , where Cianciulli was sentenced and imprisoned for fraud in 1927. When released, the couple moved to Lacedonia, Avellino . After their home was destroyed in the 1930 Irpinia earthquake , they moved once more to Correggio , Reggio Emilia , where Cianciulli opened a small shop. She was very popular and well-respected within her neighbourhood. [ 1 ] Cianciulli had seventeen pregnancies during her marriage but lost three of the children to miscarriage . Ten more died in their youth. Consequently, Cianciulli was heavily protective of the four surviving children. Her fears were fuelled by a warning she had received some time earlier from a fortune teller , who said that she would marry and have children, but that all of the children would die young. Reportedly, Cianciulli also visited a Romani who practised palm reading , and who told her, "In your right hand I see prison, in your left a criminal asylum ". [ 2 ] In 1939, Cianciulli learned that her eldest son and favourite child, Giuseppe, was going to join the Royal Italian Army in preparation for the Second World War . She was determined to protect him at all costs and came to the conclusion that his safety required human sacrifices . Cianciulli found her victims in three middle-aged women, all neighbours. The first of Cianciulli's victims, Faustina Setti, was a lifelong spinster who had come to her for help in finding a husband. Cianciulli told her of a suitable partner in Pola but asked her to tell no one of the news. She also persuaded Setti to write letters and postcards to relatives and friends. They were to be mailed when she reached Pola, to tell them that everything was fine. Preparing for her departure, Setti came to visit Cianciulli one last time. Cianciulli killed her with an axe and dragged the body into a closet, where she cut it into nine parts, gathering the blood into