Episode Information

Rome. May 13, 1981, 17:00. John Paul II crosses St. Peter's Square in an open Jeep among thousands of cheering people. Suddenly three shots ring out across the square. The Pope collapses. First the shock, then the confusion. The would-be assassin is chased and arrested. A few minutes later an ambulance is hurtling towards the Gemelli hospital, sirens wailing. As four surgeons fight to save the pope’s life, the first theories about the attack are already circulating. Who is Mehmet Ali Agca? A mentally ill criminal who acted alone? A terrorist? Or is he the scapegoat for an international conspiracy? The attack, which was described as the "crime of the century", launched an unprecedented investigation that generated more questions than answers. After 35 years, this documentary, with exclusive eye-witness accounts and scientific reconstructions, seeks to put the pieces of the attack together to finally clarify an extremely complex affair.