A man has been sentenced to life for murdering his ex-girlfriend before stuffing her body into a suitcase and dumping it in a ravine.
Mark Antony Samson, 24, stabbed 22-year-old student Ilaria Sula at his family’s flat in March 2025.
Her body was wrapped in plastic, placed inside luggage and driven to a wooded area near Capranica Prenestina, around 25 miles outside Rome, Italy.
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Samson then threw it into a ravine, where it was discovered on 2 April following a week-long search, as reported by Need To Know.
The Rome Assize Court convicted the Italian-Filipino architecture graduate of aggravated murder and concealing a body on 27 October.
Judges accepted the prosecution’s case that the killing was premeditated and handed Samson a life sentence following three hours of deliberations.
The ruling was a first-instance judgment.
Ilaria, who was born in Terni and was of Albanian heritage, had been studying statistics at Rome’s Sapienza University.
She had recently ended her relationship with Samson and reportedly visited his home to return some belongings before staying overnight.
Samson later admitted killing her but claimed he attacked after seeing messages from another man on her phone.
Prosecutors rejected his version of events and said evidence recovered from his phone indicated he had planned the murder.
One message sent to a friend reportedly read: “Either she comes back with me or I’ll kill her.”
The court recognised the aggravating circumstances of premeditation, trivial motives and Samson’s former relationship with Ilaria, according to Italian reports.
Prosecutor Maria Perna told the court the killing had not been a spontaneous “crime of passion” and said Samson had shown no remorse.
Samson was not present when the sentence was delivered at the Rebibbia courtroom.
Ilaria’s father, Flamur Sula, said afterwards: “He is still breathing; my daughter is no longer breathing. The real life sentence is ours.”
Her mother, Gezime Sula, called for girls to be shown “love, not violence”.
Samson’s mother, Nors Manlapaz, previously agreed to a two-year sentence for helping conceal Ilaria’s body and cleaning blood from the flat.
Friends, relatives and fellow Sapienza students attended the sentencing, with some wearing T-shirts bearing Ilaria’s face.
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