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Italian man suspected of femicide found in Germany

Police have arrested a 22-year-old Italian university student on the run in Germany after allegedly kidnapping and killing his ex-girlfriend, authorities said on Sunday.

Published: 19 November 2023 14:59 CET
Updated: 19 November 2023 16:39 CET

This file photo shows a German police car.

This file photo shows a German police car. An Italian man suspected of murdering his ex-girlfriend has been found in Leipzig, Germany. (Photo by Thomas KIENZLE / AFP)

Filippo Turetta, 22, a university student from Padua, was found on Sunday driving in his car near Leipzig, Germany following a week-long manhunt by Italian authorities, news reports said.

Turetta and his former girlfriend and fellow student, Giulia Cecchettin, went missing last weekend, but on Saturday, her body was found in a gully near
Lake Barcis, about 120 kilometres north of Venice, her head and neck covered with stab wounds.

The suspect “will be back in Italy within 48 hours to answer for his actions”, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said.

Police got a lead earlier this week after video cameras near Cecchettin’s home captured images of Turetta attacking Cecchettin on November 11, before fleeing with her in his car.

The president of the Veneto region, Luca Zaia, confirmed the arrest, and said a day of mourning would be set for the day of Cecchettin’s funeral.

Cecchettin had been due to graduate last week.

“I think that on the day of the funeral it is right that in schools we talk about femicides,” Zaia told Rainews24, while acknowledging that education was “not enough” to stamp out feminicide.

“We really need to start teaching our young people, from early childhood, to respect women, their sisters, mothers and schoolmates, because that’s how we’ll change things,” Tajani said.

As of November 12, there were 102 homicides with female victims in Italy, 82 of whom were killed by family members or current or former partners, according to the interior ministry.

Turetta was arrested by German police late Saturday after his car ran out of petrol and he parked with his lights off on the emergency lane of a motorway near Leipzig.

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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”.

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