Melide: lake death linked to alcohol and benzodiazepines

In a statement released on Friday, the Ticino public prosecutor's office disclosed the results of further tests ordered into the death of the 52-year-old woman found dead on 18 August in Lake Ceresio, at Melide. According to investigators, the death was likely caused by asphyxia due to drowning.

Toxicology tests found a very high blood alcohol level, together with the simultaneous presence of benzodiazepines at therapeutic or sub-therapeutic concentrations. According to the prosecutor's office, the combined effect of the two substances may have significantly reduced the woman's attentiveness, reflexes and clarity of mind. This could have contributed to her falling into the water, or made it harder for her to swim and react once in the water.

The tests found no evidence suggesting a sudden illness that could have contributed to the drowning. The prosecutor's office also noted that parallel investigations have so far found no sign of third-party involvement in the woman's death.

Investigation continues

The case file remains open. Investigators are still analysing traces collected at the scene and gathering witness statements. Further radiological examinations have also been ordered, assigned to specialists at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Zurich, to more fully reconstruct the sequence of events.

The woman had been found dead a few metres from the shore in the afternoon of 18 August. About ten days earlier, on 8 August, she had filed a complaint over an assault suffered in Melide: that investigation, opened against an unknown perpetrator, remains open and separate from the one into the circumstances of her death.

In the preceding weeks, the woman had drawn attention in Ticino after publishing recordings of phone conversations with State Councillor Claudio Zali.

The prosecutor's office said it would only release further updates once consolidated findings are available, out of consideration for the victim's family and in line with confidentiality rules governing investigations.