Sara Di Pietrantonio, 22-year-old Rome university student, was burned alive by her jealous ex-boyfriend, Vincenzo Paduano. The extremely graphic story has been making the rounds, in part because of the nature she was killed but also because of what happened right before her death.
Italian police officer Luigi Silipo said that “In 25 years in this job I have never seen such a heinous crime.”
Vincenzo Paduano stands accused of premeditated murder, a crime he’ll probably be found guilty of considering that he confessed.
Who Was Sara?
Sara was a twenty-two year old student at a university in Rome. She had been dating a man, Vincenzo Paduano, five years her senior for two years before she broke it off with him.
Who Was Vincenzo?
Vincent Paduano was a security guard who confessed to the murder of Sara. He had been dating Sara for two years prior to their breakup.
According to sources, Vincenzo originally denied any involvement in her murder. Eight hours of interrogation later, he confessed.
Massimo Percossi / AP
What Happened?
Sara had broken up with Vincenzo and then began dating someone else. Vincenzo, unable to deal with reality, confessed to police that he had been stalking Sara. He left his job at 3 AM on Saturday night and waited outside her new boyfriend’s house.
When he saw Sara leave her new partner’s house, he snapped
Vincenzo followed Sara from her new boyfriend’s house in his car. He rammed Sara’s car with his, and forced her to pull over.
Once she had pulled over, Vincenzo grabbed a bottle of alcohol and began pouring it on Sara and the rest of the car. Sara, fearing for her life, fled from the car. Vincenzo, using a cigarette lighter, first lit her car on fire. He then chased her over 100 meters and then lit her face on fire.
“Prosecutor Maria Monteleone added some motorists drove by as Ms Di Pietrantonio cried for help but no one stopped or called police,” wrote Metro UK.
