A couple’s lodger allegedly killed them after they decided to sell up and move to the countryside.
Luca Gombi and Luca Monaldi were both unemployed, so they had decided to rent out a room to make ends meet.
Their tenant, Gennaro Maffia, had moved in last August.
READ MORE: Alleged killer carries sister-in-law’s severed head around town
Neighbours heard screams coming from the flat at around 6:30am on Sunday (1 Jun).
When police entered, they came across a harrowing scene.
Gombi, 50, and Monaldi, 54, were lying on the living room floor in a pool of blood.
Gombi had a deep wound to his abdomen, while Monaldi’s throat had been slit.
Several knives were found at the scene in Bologna, Italy, as reported by Need To Know.
There was no trace of suspect Maffia, 48, but he was tracked down just hours later at Barcelona Airport thanks to an international alert.
Detectives believe he was trying to flee via Spain to Venezuela – where he was born – to evade arrest.
He is now awaiting extradition.
Detectives believe Maffia killed the couple because they had decided to sell up and move to the countryside.
The decision had led to rising tensions, and residents across the street had seen frequent rows on the couple’s terrace.
A particularly heated row seven months ago had prompted the couple to change the locks to keep Maffia out, it’s claimed,
Maffia had reportedly responded by reporting them to the police for unlawful eviction.
His relative Giovanni Sacco says the couple had “promised my cousin a severance payment.”
He added: “I tried to tell him this could be an opportunity – he could find work, a new place to live, and bring his family over from Venezuela.”
Detectives are now trying to work out if the brutal killings were premeditated or carried out on impulse.
Gombi and Monaldi had tied the knot in a civil partnership in 2023 and were well-known and liked in their neighbourhood.
The flat they lived in had belonged to Gombi’s grandparents, then his parents’.
Bologna mayor Matteo Lepore said: “We extend our deepest condolences to the victims’ families.
“And I thank the prosecutor’s office and law enforcement for their swift and effective investigation, which led to the arrest of the alleged perpetrator within hours.”
READ MORE: Dad-of-three biker is ‘sliced to death’ by razor-sharp fighter kite
