An Italian footballer has been jailed for life for stalking and beating his ex-girlfriend to death with a hammer just weeks after she reported him for stalking.
Giovanni Padovani, a 28-year-old former central defender who played for Sancataldese, was today given a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend, 56-year-old Alessandra Matteuzzi, outside her home on August 23, 2022.
Alessandra was on the phone with her sister, Stefania, who heard her scream as Padovani, also a former model, beat her to death, first with a hammer and his fists, then with a baseball bat and finally with a couch he had taken from. a garden near her apartment on Via Dell’Arcoveggio, in Bologna, northern Italy.
He had flown into town to lurk outside her house after his team told him to stay away from training.
He ambushed her and began beating her in a sick attack that Stefania heard over the phone.
Giovanni Padovani, a 28-year-old former central defender who played for Sancataldese, (pictured) was today given a life sentence for the murder of his ex-girlfriend
The footballer killed 56-year-old Alessandra Matteuzzi (pictured) outside her home in August 2022
He tried to sabotage her car, disconnect her meter from the outside and even tried to climb onto her balcony
A local resident says: ‘She was very afraid of him because he had become persistent and she did not want to let him in the house’
She previously told a local TV station: ‘She got out of her car and started shouting: ‘No Giovanni, no, I’m begging you, help.’
‘I was on the phone. I immediately called the (police), they came right away.”
While Alessandra survived the initial attack, she later died in hospital after suffering serious injuries.
The couple had been together for about a year, according to local media, but had spent most of their time apart as Alessandra lived in Bologna while Padovani worked in Sicily.
Stefania claimed they had an argument in January 2022 during which he smashed dishes and a lamp at her home in Bologna.
After they broke up, Padovani bombarded her with messages and calls, and she eventually reported him to the police for stalking.
But this did not deter him, and her neighbors previously told local media that he tried to sabotage her car, disconnect her meter from outside and even tried to climb onto her balcony.
While Alessandra survived the initial attack, she later died in hospital after suffering serious injuries
The couple had been together for about a year, according to local media, but had spent most of their time apart
Alessandra’s sister said she heard him beat her to death on the phone
She reportedly screamed as she was being beaten: ‘No Giovanni, no, I beg you, help’
A local resident says: ‘She was very afraid of him because he had become persistent and she did not want to let him in the house.’
Bologna court judge Domenico Pasquariello took just two hours to deliver a verdict today, saying his stalking and predatory behavior, as well as the premeditated nature of the attack, were aggravating factors.
He reportedly tried to claim he was not in a good state of mind at the time of the attack, telling the court: ‘If I was completely lucid and capable, I deserve life in prison. But if you consider that there is something abnormal, abnormal in the behavior, then no.
‘I wasn’t doing well, because someone who is healthy doesn’t kill another person. “I’m in a nightmare, I’m sorry, this is a bigger burden than prison.”
The judge of the Bologna court, Domenico Pasquariello, took just two hours today to deliver a verdict
After they broke up, Padovani bombarded her with messages and calls, and she eventually reported him to the police for stalking.
The pair reportedly fought in January 2022, in an incident that saw Padovani smash plates and a lamp in her Bologna flat
At the time of the murder, the case sparked outrage in Italy, after many claimed the justice system was failing to protect women from abusers.
Stefania was reportedly only able to deliver one verdict after the hearing and burst into tears as she left the courtroom. She said: ‘Alessandra is gone, my sister is gone.’
At the time of the murder, the case sparked outrage in Italy after many claimed the justice system was failing to protect women from abusers.
Bologna’s chief prosecutor Giuseppe Amato was previously forced to deny allegations of judicial negligence in the case.
He said while an investigation into the stalking complaint was launched after Alessandra filed it on August 1, 2022, the investigation stalled because witnesses were on vacation.
“We did what we could,” he said at the time, claiming that Alessandra’s stalking report did not address “situations of a concrete risk of violence, it was just the typical behavior of nuisance stalking.”