A British man who allegedly stabbed his partner seven times in the back after she discovered he was having an affair will be extradited to Italy to face a murder charge.
IT consultant Michael Whitbread, 74, was detained by police after driving through 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 in the idyllic home she shared with Whitbread in the hilltop Italian village of Casoli last October.
Court documents obtained exclusively by MailOnline later revealed that Whitbread had been having an affair with another British expat and Michele had said she would leave him and return to the UK.
Appearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today (Wednesday) for a full extradition hearing, Michele’s 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 town near Casoli described the couple as “very private”.
Michele Faiers, 66, was found lying in her first-floor room in a pool of blood by her friend inside her rural home in a village near Casoli, a town in eastern Italy. In the photo: the house with police tape surrounding it.
Whitebread, originally from Torquay, Devon, was wearing a red shirt, black trousers and jacket and said nothing other than confirming his name before Judge David Robinson.
His defense, David Williams, said he “did not consent to the extradition but did not oppose it” and, after a brief hearing, Judge Robinson ruled he should be sent back to stand trial in Italy.
He said: “The Italian authorities have indicated an immediate trial and the crime is of the most serious and serious nature.”
He was told he had a week to appeal and that if he did not apply he would be sent to the bank in Italy within 17 days, prompting Whitbread to ask for clarification of the dates.
As he was led away, he glanced at Michele’s daughters, but remained impassive as they stared back at him before leaving with a member of the Crown Prosecution Service without comment.
According to documents from the Italian prosecutor’s office, Michele had been sleeping at a friend’s house after suspecting that her partner was having an affair.
Michele Faiers (pictured with partner Michael Whitbread) was found fatally stabbed in her idyllic Italian home.
They revealed how Whitbread had attacked Michele a month before the murder and left her “covered in bruises” and “fearing for her life”, according to the shocking testimony of her close friend Petrina Keay, who later found her lifeless body.
Michele’s body was in the first-floor bedroom, covered by a sheet and only her feet were visible underneath, police sources said.
According to the file, a pair of men’s boxers covered in blood were also found at the scene.
Police have been told that Michele “doubted her partner’s fidelity” and was “thinking about leaving him and returning to England”.
She is said to have become upset and suspicious of him after seeing him slap a friend’s butt at a New Year’s Eve party.
According to the police file, the woman is a 62-year-old retired company director, whose identity is known to the Mail.
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 file reveals that Michele confided in Petrina about her doubts about Whitbread and was forced to sleep at his house for a week in early October last year after a violent fight with him left her “covered in bruises” .
Petrina told detectives that the “furious fight” between Michele and Whitbread had left her friend “fearing for her life” and she had opened up to her about the bitter relationship in the days before her death.
Michele was found dead on November 1 when Petrina called, after becoming concerned when she didn’t respond to messages and found her dead in the bedroom.
Police have established that she was murdered four days earlier and that Whitbread was stopped 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 it is believed she alerted police he was at her home after reading reports of the death on MailOnline.
Police neighbors described Whitbread as “always a little drunk”, while Michele was said to be “calm and collected”.
The day before Michele was murdered, Whitbread sent a message to the partner of the woman he slapped, confessing that they “had had sex together.”
But she doubted the veracity and responded by asking to meet Whitbread to clear things up, but he 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 strangely sent another message retracting what he had said, and then a day later sent a similar text message.
However, by that time, police had established via CCTV at the couple’s home, that Whitbread had left in the early hours of October 29 in his Jeep Compass and had begun the 1,000-mile journey to the Kingdom. United.
Colonel Alceo Greco of Italy’s carabinieri police said Michael Whitbread (pictured), 74, is the main suspect.
Traffic cameras caught him crossing from Italy into Switzerland near Lake Maggiore at 4pm that afternoon, while his last ping on his cell phone was that same afternoon from nearby Como.
The incident has left the 100 expats living in the area completely shaken and, despite the alleged Whitbread affair being public knowledge, unsurprisingly, no one is talking.
Petrina declined to comment on the report and at the time posted a sign on her door in English and Italian asking not to be disturbed.
CCTV footage seized from the house shows Michele returning there on October 28 after meeting Petrina and after that the only person seen leaving or entering is Whitbread.
Then, after he left on October 29, the next person to appear is Petrina early on the morning of November 1 when she made the horrible discovery.
A local Italian told MailOnline: ‘Apparently the tension between Michael and Michele was common knowledge among other Brits living here.
‘Michele told some people and after a nasty attack she stayed with one of her friends for a week because she was in a very bad state.
“She was covered in bruises and greatly feared for her life; he may have seemed meek and mild-mannered, but after a drink he had a nasty temper.”
The 74-year-old man who was arrested for the murder of a British grandmother in Italy was found by police in a UK house (pictured)
“It all started at a New Year’s Eve party where Michael slapped another British woman on the butt and Michele wasn’t very happy, she got jealous and confronted him.
‘This created tension between this couple and them and they stopped seeing each other and avoided each other at community functions.
“The fact that he was supposed to be having an affair with this woman was common knowledge and it had gotten to the point where Michele just wasn’t having it and wanted to return to England to be with her family.
“She had been there in September for a wedding and came back talking about what a great time she had and that she was determined to come back, but sadly she didn’t.”