A rugby international and his brother have been arrested on suspicion of beating a father of four to death outside a nightclub.
A fight involving the victim and other people broke out inside the venue in the early hours of Sunday (9 August).
Once outside, Antonio Perrotta was approached and violently beaten, as reported by Need To Know.
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Some acquaintances found him lying on the ground outside the club and took him to his home in Fuscaldo.
The unsavoury incident took place in Sangineto, Italy.
His condition deteriorated at home, and he was rushed to a hospital in Cetraro before being transferred to another facility in Cosenza.
Despite doctors’ attempts to save his life, he died from his injuries at around 6.30am on Monday (10 August), aged 34.
CCTV footage and witness accounts helped investigators identify the suspects, who were arrested in Belvedere Marittimo on Tuesday (11 August).
They had reportedly bought plane tickets and were preparing to leave Italy when they were detained.
They have been identified as brothers Domenico and Umberto Orsino, originally from Italy’s Calabria region but residents in Luxembourg.
Domenico, 22, plays for the Luxembourg national rugby team, while 24-year-old Umberto works as a physiotherapist.
Both reportedly exercised their right to remain silent during questioning.
One line of inquiry is that the fight started because the brothers had entered the club without tickets.
Antonio worked as a labourer but had taken on a second, part-time job as a bouncer at Il Castello nightclub to help support his wife, Alba, and their four children.
The Cosenza-based Giorgio La Pira volunteer association, which knew Antonio, said that “during the night-time hours he worked in private security”.
However, Il Castello, which has been closed since the incident, stressed that he “was not part of the venue’s staff” and that “no violent incident took place inside the nightclub or in the area directly outside it”.
Il Castello’s claims are being investigated.
Some reports say Antonio was friends with the club’s bouncers and may have worked for them informally.
The investigation is ongoing.
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