A 62-year-old man has admitted killing and cutting up the body of his younger sister, Police said in Rome on Wednesday.
The legs of a woman, whose body was cut in half around the groin area, were found in a dumpster in the upmarket residential neighbourhood of Parioli.
The victim was identified as 59-year-old Nicoletta Diotallevi.
Her brother, Maurizio, with whom she shared an apartment, was quickly singled out as a suspect, police said in a statement.
Questioned by a prosecutor, “Mr Diotallevi admitted to having committed the murder and to have tried to conceal the body,’’ and was arrested, police said.
According to the ANSA news agency which quoted investigative sources, rows over money are believed to be the motive for the crime.
“I knew Nicoletta and Maurizio well and I would have never expected such a thing.
“When I saw all the police outside the house I thought they were shooting a film. Then I got the shocking news,’’ a neighbour was quoted as saying.
The confessed killer was caught by a security camera stopping his car by the dumpster and throwing something in it on the night of the incident.
The rest of the victim’s body was found later in another rubbish container near the flat where the two siblings lived, the police said. (dpa/NAN)
AIJ/AMY