Marco Furlan was born on January 16, 1960, in Verona, Italy, into a well-off, highly respected family. His father was a prominent physician and director of the Burns Unit at Verona’s Ospedale Civile Maggiore. Furlan grew up in Borgo Trento, one of the most prestigious districts of Verona. By all outward appearances, he was on track for a bright and respectable future. He attended Padua University, studying physics, and was close to graduation at the time of his arrest.

On August 25, 1977, Marco Furlan and Wolfgang Abel committed their first murder. They burned a Roma drug addict named Guerrino Spinelli alive using four Molotov cocktails in his vehicle. This marked the beginning of their violent spree.

The duo continued their killings. On December 17, 1978, they murdered Luciano Stefanato, a homosexual waiter, in Padua. He was stabbed 30 times, and two knives were left in his back. In Venice, on December 12, 1979, they murdered Claudio Costa, a 22-year-old drug addict, in a similar fashion.

In 1980, they killed 52-year-old Alice Maria Baretta, a prostitute, in Vicenza using an axe. The following year, on May 25, 1981, they set fire to an abandoned building sheltering homeless people in Verona, resulting in the death of 17-year-old Luca Martinotti.

On July 20, 1982, Furlan and Abel targeted two elderly friars in Vicenza. Father Gabriele Pigato was instantly killed, while Father Giuseppe Lovato succumbed to his injuries shortly after. Another priest, Don Armando Bison, was murdered in Trento on February 26, 1983, with an awl found embedded in his skull.

The pair escalated their violence further. On May 14, 1983, they set fire to the "Eros" cinema in Milan, killing six people and injuring 32. A doctor, Livio Ceresoli, died while trying to rescue others during this incident. The following January, they ignited a fire at the "Liverpool Disco" in Munich, which resulted in one death and several injuries.

Their last attack occurred on March 4, 1984, at the Melamara Disco in Castiglione delle Stiviere. They tried to start a large fire but were thwarted by the fire-resistant carpet. Once discovered, they attempted to flee but were caught and arrested by police.

In total, their crimes resulted in 28 deaths and 39 injuries. After their arrest, they went on trial, where both were initially sentenced to 30 years in prison. Furlan later escaped in 1991 but was recaptured in 1995. Eventually, both were sentenced to 27 years in prison. Furlan was released on probation in 2010. Wolfgang Abel was later released from house arrest in 2016. He died on October 25, 2024, at the age of 65.