Man chokes his doctor girlfriend, 27, to death because he thought she infected him with coronavirus
A nurse in Italy strangled his doctor girlfriend and told the police that he had done because she gave him coronavirus.
27-year-old newly qualified medic Lorena Quaranta was found dead by the police after her partner Antonio De Pace called to say he had murdered her. The two had been working together in a local hospital in Messina, Sicily and had been called to help out with the coronavirus outbreak.
The police went to the pair's apartment after 28-year-old De Pace called to confess that he had killed Quaranta. The paramedics had to be called after the authorities found him on the floor with his wrists slit.
Quaranta's colleagues were able to save De Pace's life and he was later taken to local prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia. He then told investigators, "I killed her because she gave me coronavirus." A police source revealed, "She was a doctor who was working hard to save others. It's such a tragedy."
Tests were conducted on both but early indications show that neither had contracted COVID-19. A few days before she died, Quaranta had shared her anguish at how 41 doctors had died during Italy's coronavirus outbreak.
She had shared a news report on the figures which highlighted how many doctors had lost their lives from a lack of personal protection equipment. She had written, "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."
"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." It was just last month that De Pace had shared a tribute to her after she qualified and said, "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," he had said.
De Pace was kept in custody in a local hospital while Quaranta's parents were told that they would need to have her funeral quickly done due to the massive rise in coronavirus related deaths. Mayor Anna Alba shared, "Her poor parents have already suffered her loss and now they will not be able to give her a final good bye, it's a tragedy within a tragedy."
Many upset and angry locals took to De Pace's social media to post, "I hope you die slowly, suffering and screaming. You son of a b*tch." According to Johns Hopkins University, Italy currently has 110,574 confirmed cases of coronavirus while there have been around 13,155 deaths.
Italy has registered more deaths than anywhere else in the world and has accounted for around 30% of the total number of deaths globally from coronavirus. Italy's largest daily toll from the pandemic was registered last Friday, March 27 when 919 people were confirmed dead.
The numbers were followed by 889 deaths on Saturday, 756 on Sunday, 812 on Monday and 837 on Tuesday.