A British man who allegedly stabbed his partner in the back seven times after she discovered he was having an affair will be extradited to Italy to face murder charges.
IT consultant Michael Whitbread, 74, was stopped by police after driving across Europe following the fatal stabbing of mother-of-three Michele Faiers, 66.
She was found dressed only in her underwear in a pool of blood last October at the idyllic home she shared with Whitbread in the Italian hill town of Casoli.
Court documents obtained exclusively by MailOnline later revealed that Whitbread had had an affair with another British expat and that Michele had said she would leave him and move back to Britain.
When Michele appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court today (Wednesday) for a full extradition hearing, the three daughters cried as they heard how Whitbread had stabbed their helpless mother in the back seven times.
Michael Whitbread, right, was arrested in England on suspicion of murder after Michele Faiers, left, was found dead in her home near the Italian town of Casoli
Local residents of the village near Casoli describe the couple as ‘very private’
Michele Faiers, 66, was found lying in a pool of blood in her first-floor bedroom by her friend at her rural home in a village near Casoli, a town in eastern Italy. In the photo: the house with police tape around it
Whitebread, originally from Torquay, Devon, was dressed in a red shirt, black trousers and a jacket that said nothing other than confirming his name to judge David Robinson.
His defense attorney, David Williams, said he “did not consent to extradition, but did not resist it either” and after a brief hearing, Judge Robinson ruled he should be returned to face trial in Italy.
He said: ‘The Italian authorities have announced an immediate trial and the crime is of a very serious nature.’
He told him he had a week to appeal and if he did not make a request he would be sent to Italy within seventeen days, prompting Whitbread to ask for clarification of the dates.
As he was led away, he looked at Michele’s daughters but remained emotionless as they stared at him before leaving with a member of the Crown Prosecution Service without making any comment.
According to documents from the Italian prosecutor, Michele had slept at a friend’s house after suspecting her partner of having an affair.
Michele Faiers (pictured with her partner Michael Whitbread) was found fatally stabbed in her idyllic Italian home
They revealed how Whitbread had attacked Michele a month before the murder, leaving her ‘covered in bruises’ and ‘afraid for her life’, according to the impressive testimony of her close friend Petrina Keay – who later found her lifeless body.
Michele’s body lay in the first-floor bedroom, covered with a sheet with only her feet sticking out from underneath, police sources said.
According to the file, a male boxer covered in blood was also found at the scene.
Police have been told that Michele ‘had doubts about her partner’s fidelity’ and that she was ‘considering leaving him and returning to England’.
She is said to have become ‘angry and suspicious’ of him after seeing him slap a friend on the buttocks at a New Year’s Eve party.
According to the police file, the woman is a retired 62-year-old company director, whose identity is known to the Post.
She is a divorced mother of two, originally from Bath, who moved to Italy several years ago to start a new life with her partner, a former postman from Surrey.
The prosecution’s file shows that Michele confided in Petrina about her doubts about Whitbread and was forced to sleep at her home for a week in early October last year after a violent argument with him left her ‘covered in bruises’.
Petrina told detectives that the “raging fight” between Michele and Whitbread had left her friend “fearing for her life” and she had told her about the bitter relationship in the days leading up to her death.
Michele was found dead on November 1 when Petrina called after becoming concerned when she didn’t answer messages and found her lifeless in the bedroom.
Police determined she was murdered four days earlier and Whitbread was held by British police in Shepshed near Loughborough, Leicestershire, after driving through Italy, Switzerland and France.
He was arrested at his daughter’s home – just hours after Michele was found – and she is said to have alerted police that he was at her home after reading reports of the death on MailOnline.
Whitbread was described by police neighbors as ‘always a little tipsy’, while Michele was said to be ‘calm and serene’.
The day before Michele was murdered, Whitbread sent a message to the partner of the woman whose buttocks he slapped, confessing that they had ‘had sex together’.
But he questioned the veracity and replied asking to meet Whitbread to clear the air, but replied that there was ‘no point as there was nothing to clear up and it happened’.
The next day – after Michelle was stabbed to death – Whitbread bizarrely sent another message retracting what he had said, and a day later he sent a similar text message.
By then, however, police established through CCTV at the couple’s home that Whitbread had left in their Jeep Compass in the early hours of October 29 and begun the 1,000-mile drive to Britain.
Colonel Alceo Greco, of Italy’s Carabinieri police, said Michael Whitbread (pictured), 74, is a prime suspect
Traffic cameras spotted him traveling from Italy to Switzerland near Lake Maggiore at 4pm that afternoon, while his last mobile phone pinged from nearby Como earlier that afternoon.
The incident has left the 100 expats living in the area completely shocked and despite Whitbread’s alleged affair being public knowledge, unsurprisingly no one will say anything.
Petrina has declined to comment on the report and at the time posted a sign in English and Italian on her gate asking not to be disturbed.
CCTV footage seized from the house shows Michele returning there on October 28 after meeting Petrina. After that, the only person he sees leave or enter is Whitbread.
After he left on October 29, the next person to appear is Petrina, early on the morning of November 1, when she made the gruesome discovery.
A local Italian told MailOnline: ‘Apparently the tension between Michael and Michele was common knowledge among other Brits living here.
‘Michele had told a few people and after a nasty attack, she stayed with one of her friends for a week because she was in such a bad way.
‘She was covered in bruises and really scared for her life. He may have seemed meek and mild, but after a drink he had a nasty temper.
The 74-year-old man arrested for the murder of a British grandmother in Italy was found by police in a house in Britain (pictured)
‘It all started at a New Year’s Eve party where Michael spanked another British woman’s bottom and Michele was not very happy. She got jealous and approached him.
‘It led to tensions between this couple and them, causing them to stop seeing each other and avoid each other at common events.
‘The fact that he was allegedly having an affair with this woman was public knowledge and it had gotten to the point where Michele just didn’t want it anymore and wanted to go back to England to be with her family.
‘She had been there in September for a wedding and came back to talk about what a lovely time she had had and how she was determined to move back, but unfortunately that was not to be.’