Nurse murdered doctor-girlfriend he thought gave him COVID-19: Cops
Brad Hunter
Published:
April 2, 2020
Updated:
April 2, 2020 10:15 AM EDT
Dr. Lorena Quaranta, 27, was found dead in Messina, Sicily after boyfriend Antonio De Pace called 911 to confess to the slaying. FACEBOOK
An Italian nurse went berserk and murdered his doctor girlfriend because he believed she had infected him with COVID-19.
Cops say Lorena Quaranta, 27, was found dead in Messina, Sicily after Antonio De Pace called 911 to confess to the slaying.
Quaranta had been strangled.
The couple worked at the same hospital and Quaranta had been valiantly fighting the coronavirus pandemic on the front lines in hard-hit Italy.
De Pace was found on the floor of their shared apartment. He had slashed his wrists but is expected to recover.
He told shocked detectives: “I killed her because she gave me coronavirus.”
He thought she gave him COVID-19. She didn’t. Dr. Lorena Quaranta, 27, was found dead in Messina, Sicily after boyfriend Antonio De Pace called 911 to confess to the slaying.FACEBOOK
Officials say that early indications are that neither Quaranta nor her boyfriend were infected.
“She was a doctor who was working hard to save others. It’s such a tragedy,” a police source told local media.
Before her slaying, Quaranta had taken to social media to express her horror at news that at least 41 Italian doctors have died battling the pandemic. So far, COVID-19 has killed 12,000 people in Italy.
Calling the death tally “unacceptable,” Quaranta wrote: “Now more than ever we need to demonstrate responsibility and love for life. You must show respect for yourselves, your families and the country. 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.”
Just one month earlier, a friend of the young doctor congratulated her on getting her medical licence: “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.”
Residents of Messina were enraged by the slaying.
One local wrote on the suspected killer’s Facebook page: “I hope you die slowly, suffering and screaming. You son of a b*888.”
bhunter@postmedia.com
@HunterTOSun
http://torontosun.com/news/world/nurse-murdered-doctor-girlfriend-he-thought-gave-him-covid-19-cops