A mother-of-three was found dead with a chilling note left next to her body reading “I messed up.”
Assunta Sgarbini, known as Tina, was discovered in her flat on Saturday (23 Aug) morning.
Her ex-partner, Christian Persico, became the prime suspect after his parents contacted police over the scribbled note and their inability to reach him.
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A large search was launched, and that evening Persico, 36, was arrested after a passer-by recognised him in a nearby street.
He was found with scratches on his face, thought to be from 47-year-old Tina’s desperate attempts to fight him off.
He refused to answer questions during interrogation, exercising his right to remain silent, and was held on remand.
A post-mortem ruled Tina’s cause of death as external mechanical asphyxia. Investigators believe she was strangled, but the exact method is still under investigation.
The couple had been together since 2016 and were reportedly seen in a bar just days before the killing.
But Tina’s father, Antonio, said she had thrown Persico out, as reported by Need To Know.
“She threw him out, in my view, because he didn’t work,” he told local media.
“He would just turn up at the house and do whatever he wanted.
“At a certain point my daughter told him, ‘You have to leave,’ and she kicked him out.
“Sadly, you can’t keep someone in the house who doesn’t contribute.”
Tina’s three children, from a previous relationship, were not at the flat in Montecorvino Rovella, near Italy’s Salerno, when the horror unfolded.
One friend paid tribute: “You fought with all your strength to beat your illness, and yet a murderous hand has taken you away. I love you, Tina – you leave an enormous void.”
The motive is still under investigation.
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