I was talking to someone on Twitter about rational precautions against violence when I mentioned the case of Pippa Bacca, which is apparently not widely known in the United States. I first read about Bacca’s life and tragic death in Bruce Schenier’s excellent book, Liars and Outliers: Enabling the Trust that Society Needs to Thrive. Bacca was an Italian performance artist who, along with her friend and fellow artist Silvia Mor, planned to hitchhike from Milan to Jersulam wearing wedding dresses.
The two women apparently thought the project would demonstrate the fundamental goodness of people once you really get to sit down and meet them. As the duo posted on a website they had prepared to publicize their plan, “Hitchhiking is choosing to have faith in other human beings, and man, like a small god, rewards those who have faith in him.”
Things didn’t quite work out like that, however. As the Wikipedia entry on Bacca notes,
Bacca was part of a world peace effort known as “Brides on Tour” which had departed from Milan on 8 March 2008. The artists, wearing white wedding dresses, then travelled through Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Bulgaria, and arrived in Turkey on 20 March 2008. They had planned to hitch-hike to Syria and then Lebanon by 31 March, arriving in Palestinian territories and Israel by mid-April, their final destination being Jerusalem. Concerning their attire, they reported on their website that “That’s the only dress we’ll carry along – with all stains accumulated during the journey.”
On her sisters hitch-hiking plans, and in light of the discovery of her body, her sibling Maria states to Italian news agency ANSA that “Her travels were for an artistic performance and to give a message of peace and of trust, but not everyone deserves trust… We weren’t particularly worried because she had been hitchhiking for a lot of time, and thus was capable of avoiding risky situations… She was a determined person when it had to do with working for art.”
Disappearance
Bacca and her companion split up just prior to arriving in Istanbul, planning to meet up again in Beirut. However, Bacca disappeared after 31 March. Her credit card was reportedly used at noon of that day. Bacca’s naked, strangled and decomposing body was found near some bushes in the town of Tavsanli in mid-April.
The man who led the police to her body, Murat Karatas was detained, was arrested after reportedly confessing to raping and strangling Bacca on 31 March after taking her in his Jeep from a gas station. DNA testing suggests, however, that Bacca was raped by multiple people, and not just Karatas. The suspect said he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol and could not remember what happened.
Karatas was eventually sentenced to life in prison for Bacca’s murder.