A Rome university student was burned alive by her ex-boyfriend after she left him, authorities said Monday. A murder one investigator called the most atrocious crime he has seen in his career.
22-year-old Sara Di Pietrantonio died on Sunday, May 29th, after her ex boyfriend Vincenzo Paduano, 27, set her car ablaze, prosecutor Maria told reporters.
He then chased her after she ran out of the car, setting her ablaze when he caught up with her, authorities said. Investigators said her attacker used a cigarette lighter to set Di Pietrantonio’s face on fire after dousing her with alcohol.
The suspect first denied killing the woman, but after eight hours of interrogation, confessed to killing her, Silipo told reporters.
Paduano “didn’t accept being abandoned’ by the woman, Monteleone said. ‘He organized, he planned the aggression,’ the prosecutor said. Silipo said the suspect walked off his job as a security guard about 3am and waited outside the home of Di Pietrantonio’s current boyfriend.
Then, after the woman left the home and drove off by herself, Paduano drove after her eventually forcing her car to the side of the road. He said.
A surveillance camera in the area captured some of the events, including at least two cars that passed by while the woman screamed in vain for help as she tried to flee, authorities said.
Monteleone made what she said was a fervent appeal to citizens to help such women, “not to look the other way.” She added that if passers-by had helped, the woman’s life might have been saved.
She also encouraged women “not to keep hidden any threatening behavior by those who insist they love you, but it’s not that way.”
Italian women’s advocates have been trying to change mentalities in a country where men often turn violent when a women breaks off a relationship. One such champion for women to be more assertive in protecting themselves is an Italian lawyer whose face was mutilated in an acid attack ordered by her ex-boyfriend. She courageously testified at the ex-boyfriend’s trial.
Sounding a call Monday to Italian woman to denounce threats by men to police was Chamber of Deputies President Laura Boldrini. The parliamentary leader said a change in cultural mentality was needed, starting in early childhood classrooms.