A nurse strangled his doctor girlfriend before telling police officers that he unleashed the attack because she gave him COVID-19, prosecutors say.
Lorena Quaranta, 27, was found dead after her boyfriend Antonio De Pace allegedly called them to say he had killed her.
Both had been working in Messina, Sicily, but were drafted in to help out with the coronavirus outbreak.
De Pace, 28, called officers to tell them that he had murdered his partner, according to reports in Italy.
Police then called paramedics because they found De Pace had cut his wrists and discovered him on the floor of the apartment, officers said.
He was saved by Lorena’s colleagues at the hospital and stunned police say he then told them: ‘I killed her because she gave me coronavirus.’
Early indications from testing carried out last night suggest that neither he nor his girlfriend had the virus.
Lorena had posted just days before her tragic death about 41 Italian doctors dying during the pandemic.
Linking to a news report on the deaths that have hit Italy due to a lack of Personal Protective Equipment, she branded the situation ‘unacceptable’.
‘Now more than ever we need to demonstrate responsibility and love for life. You must show respect for yourselves, your families and the country,’ she wrote.
‘You must think and remember those that dedicate their lives daily to looking after our sick.
‘Let’s stick together everyone staying at home. Let’s avoid the next one falling sick is a loved one or ourselves.’
De Pace had just weeks ago posted a tribute to his girlfriend following her qualification as a medic.
He wrote: ‘To reach our dreams you have to work hard with determination and you are proof.
‘I wish you to keep chasing your dreams, always live the life you always imagined. Well done! Congratulations on your brilliant graduation doctor.’
Daily Mail
