Man found dismembered in Turin, 26-year-old accused: "We were high, we wanted to throw him in the river"
Christian Matheus De Oliveira Morando was questioned before the investigating judge following the discovery of the dismembered body of Fabio Colapietro in an apartment in Borgo Vittoria.
Murder in Turin, 26-year-old arrested: "I don't remember if I was the one who suffocated him"
The 26-year-old Christian Matheus De Oliveira Morando answered questions for over an hour and a half from the investigating judge, after being arrested Thursday evening on suspicion of murder and corpse concealment. According to rainews.it, which followed the hearing to validate the arrest, the young man, represented by lawyer Wilmer Perga, substantially repeated what he had already told police in the hours following the discovery of the body.
According to what emerged during questioning, the 26-year-old recounted that on the night of the crime he was in the apartment on via Gulli, in the Borgo Vittoria district, together with Nicole Formichetti — the teacher who lives in the flat — and a third individual of Filipino nationality. The three allegedly consumed alcohol and various narcotic substances for hours, until the arrival of the victim, identified as the group's drug dealer.
The argument, the scuffle, the memory gap
The next morning, upon waking, someone allegedly told the 26-year-old that Fabio Colapietro, 39, originally from Chivasso and resident in Settimo Torinese, had stolen money. This led to a violent argument that escalated into a scuffle. When the investigating judge directly asked him whether he was the one who suffocated the victim, the young man put his head in his hands, claiming he did not remember what happened.
However, he added that after attempting to resuscitate Colapietro for approximately two hours without success, he and the other people present decided to dispose of the body. According to his account, the intention was to throw the remains in a lake or river "to make him disappear". For this purpose, black bags, bleach and a tarpaulin were purchased.
Investigators are verifying this version, which hypothesises a scuffle stemming from an attempted theft. In parallel, a reconstruction is considered more credible in which a gathering of the four people involved — involving drug use, particularly amphetamines, and sexual activity — degenerated into a massacre.
Who is teacher Nicole Formichetti
It was Nicole Formichetti herself who opened the door to officers from Turin's mobile squad Thursday evening. The teacher of Italian, originally from Rieti and residing in the apartment on the fourth floor of the building, let them in. Upon entering the flat, police immediately detected a strong, acrid odour. In the lounge, they found blocks of concrete concealing human limbs; in the bathroom, in the bathtub, black bags containing other remains. The head was reportedly found in a separate container. Also at the scene were a meat cleaver and some knives, probably used for the dismemberment.
Formichetti and the Filipino citizen were arrested Thursday evening on suspicion of abetting and concealing a corpse. The woman was questioned extensively by investigators to reconstruct the relationships between the people who frequented the apartment and the victim.
In the corridors of the Tommaso D'Oria Institute in Ciriè, on the outskirts of Turin, her absence had become a matter of concern for weeks: teacher Formichetti had never shown up in class since the start of the school year. Colleagues and students describe her as "very solitary and detached" in recent times, reserved about her private life, but with no previous legal issues or problems with the institution.
The mother's phone call and the discovery
Everything began with a call to 112. It was the 26-year-old's mother who contacted police, reporting that her son had confessed to having done "serious harm to someone". "He told me very confused things: that he was desperate, he kept crying — the woman told journalists — he was distraught, so I didn't understand. He made it clear that something very serious had happened, but I told him that he had to call the police and had to do the right thing".
Traced by officers, Morando led investigators to the apartment on via Gulli. Initial forensic examinations indicate that Fabio Colapietro was killed by blows from a blunt object and stab wounds.
The comings and goings in the building and points still to be clarified
Several residents of the building on via Gulli had noticed continuous movement of people in the flat, both day and evening. "I know her by sight — said one neighbour — I used to see her often with a little dog and accompanied by different people, friends who would go up and down with her". Someone had already complained about the comings and goings.
Several questions remain open: it is not yet clear whether Colapietro was killed directly in the apartment on via Gulli or whether the body was transported there afterwards. According to some sources, in the days before the discovery, a suspected stream of people coming and going from the same flat was reported. Officers from the mobile squad conducted searches in other apartments connected to people considered close to those arrested.
Source: Google News IT — Crime (it)