Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

Killer kissed elderly victim ‘to say sorry’

A man arrested for triple murder said he kissed one of his victims, a 94-year-old woman stabbed to death in her bed, "because I was sorry", Italian media reported on Thursday.

Published: 9 January 2014 09:46 CET
Killer kissed elderly victim 'to say sorry'
Giorgio Palmieri's murder confession was published on Thursday. Photo: Rosie Scammell/The Local

Giorgio Palmieri was arrested on Tuesday night for the murder of three family members at their home close to Turin on January 3rd.

Palmieri, who reportedly knew the family through his partner, went to their home on Friday night to discuss a €500 debt he owed them, Italian media reported on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Italian man confesses to triple murder in Turin

After being welcomed in and drinking a cup of coffee, he allegedly stabbed 66-year-old Claudio Allione with a letter knife.

Palmieri then turned the knife on Allione’s 65-year-old wife, Maria Angela Greggio, he reportedly said in a teary confession to police.

“Afterwards, I tried not to make a sound because I didn’t want the grandmother, who was on the ground floor, to hear me. But I remember that the grandmother opened the door to her room and then immediately shut it,” Palmieri was quoted in La Stampa as saying.

Thinking that 94-year-old Emilia Campo Dall'Orto, Greggio’s mother, had seen him, Palmieri went into her bedroom.

“She was sitting in bed playing cards, as soon as she saw me she said, ‘And what are you doing here’? I approached her and said I didn’t want to do anything and not to scream or move, but she attacked me,” Palmieri said. He then stabbed her, La Stampa said.

“I didn’t want to do it, it broke my heart.

“After I killed the grandmother with the letter knife, I covered her with the duvet and kissed her because I was sorry for having killed her in this way,” Palmieri said.

Police traced him thanks to information provided by Emilia Campo Dall'Orto’s grandson, Maurizio Allione.

The victims’ relative went to police after discovering new evidence, espresso cups and a latex glove close to the house, earlier this week. During a meeting with investigators he told them that a carer at the family home, Dorotea De Pippo, had been dismissed just months earlier after a necklace went missing.

Police were then able to link Palmieri – De Pippo’s partner – to the crime. The former family carer is not being investigated for murder, Italian media said.

Don't miss a story about Italy – Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

CRIME

REVEALED: Where in Italy you’re most likely to be a victim of crime

From theft and home burglary to cyber fraud and extortion, the latest figures reveal where in Italy you are most likely to fall victim to crime and the most common types of offences in major cities around the country.

Published: 17 September 2024 11:15 CEST
REVEALED: Where in Italy you're most likely to be a victim of crime

While Italy is among the safest countries in the world – it ranked 33rd out of 163 in the latest Global Peace Index report, right above the UK – crime is still a concern, especially in metropolitan cities and tourist hotspots.

According to the annual crime report from newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore, which collated the most recent data from Italy’s Department of Public Security, Milan was the Italian city with the highest crime rate in 2023.

Overall, some 230,394 crimes were reported in the northern metropolis last year, which corresponded to 7,094 offences for every 100,000 residents.

Milan was followed by Italy’s capital, Rome, with 6,071 reported crimes for every 100,000 residents (up by nearly 600 compared to 2022) and Florence, with 6,053.

The top ten was completed by Rimini (6,002 reports for every 100,000 residents), Turin (5,685), Bologna (5,539), Prato (4,887), Imperia (4,838), Venice (4,825) and Livorno (4,743).

At the other end of the spectrum, Oristano, Sardinia, was the Italian city with the lowest crime rate in 2023 as it ‘only’ saw 1,511 offences for every 100,000 residents. 

Oristano was followed by Potenza, Basilicata (1,934) and Treviso, Veneto (2,258).

Single-offence rankings

While the overall crime rate ranking provides a picture of Italy’s major crime hotspots, it doesn’t allow for any insight into the types of offences committed locally, which is why it is worth looking into single-offence rankings. 

Milan, Rome and Rimini (a popular seaside resort on Emilia Romagna’s Adriatic coast) were the Italian cities with the highest theft rates in 2023, with the northern city registering nearly 3,900 reported thefts (furti) for every 100,000 residents and the capital stopping just shy of the 3,500 mark.

Milan was also Italy’s least-safe city when it came to petty theft and pickpocketing, with over 900 such offences reported for every 100,000 residents.

READ ALSO: How bad is pickpocketing in Italy’s major cities?

Florence was the Italian city with the highest robbery rate (rapine), with 136 offences for every 100,000 residents. 

The Tuscan city was followed by Milan (128) and Prato (124).

Outside of big cities and popular tourist destinations, a number of smaller and, perhaps, slightly unassuming Italian cities had their own crime ‘specialisations’ in 2023. 

For instance, Ragusa, Sicily, ranked first in vehicle theft, while Pisa, Tuscany, came in first in reported home burglary offences.

Trieste, Friuli Venezia Giulia, had the highest sexual assault rate (24 reports for every 100,000 residents) in the country, whereas Crotone ranked first for attempted murder.

READ ALSO: The 8 red flags to look out for to avoid rental scams in Italy

Turin came in first for cyber fraud and online scams, while Isernia, Molise, was Italy’s extortion capital. 

National picture

At a national level, reported crimes were up by 3.8 percent compared to 2022, with online fraud and robbery registering 10.3- and 9.5-percent increases respectively. 

Assault offences also registered a 3.1-percent year-on-year increase, while there were 341 murders in 2023 – up by 13 against 2019. 

According to Marco Dugato, a researcher at the Crime Observatory of Milan’s Cattolica University, the latest increases “must be monitored, particularly for certain types of crime”.

In particular, “the rise of more impulsive, less planned, but more aggressive forms of criminal activity” such as assault and robbery “is of concern”. 

SHOW COMMENTS