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Police officers at the crime scene in the Italian town of Altavilla Milicia
Photo:
IPA / ABACAPRESS / IMAGO
A father is said to have killed his wife and two underage sons near Palermo in Sicily. A 17-year-old daughter survived the bloody crime and was found alive in the house in the town of Altavilla Milicia. The 54-year-old man is a religious fanatic and possible links to a sect are being investigated, Italian media reported unanimously.
Early on Sunday morning, the man himself contacted the Carabinieri to confess to killing his 41-year-old wife and his sons, aged five and 16. The emergency services found the bodies of the two sons in the house and a few hours later the charred body of the woman under a pile of earth not far from the house. The daughter was found alive in a room in a state of shock.
Exorcism with a married couple?
During the interrogation, the man told the carabinieri that the devil was in the house, as the media further reported, citing the investigators. The daughter is also said to have told the investigators that her father had carried out a kind of exorcism together with a couple who were friends of hers. The couple was also arrested. Investigators suspect the man killed his family to rid his house of demons.
The case is causing a stir in Italy. Italian media reported further distressing details of the crime. The woman had been killed days before and the sons only later. Iron chains were also found at the crime scene.
bam/dpa