A British man accused of stabbing his partner seven times in the back after she learned he was having an affair has been 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 Michele Faiers, a 66-year-old mother of three.
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 Verratti last October.
MailOnline can exclusively reveal that he was flown back to Rome last Friday, arriving on a British Airways flight from London Heathrow before being handed over to Italian authorities and transferred to the city’s Rebibbia prison.
The medium-security prison on the outskirts of Rome has more than 1,000 inmates and is home to gangsters, murderers, drug traffickers and terrorists.
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.
Computer consultant Whitbread, 74, has been extradited for the alleged murder of his partner
Michele Faiers, 66, was found lying in her first-floor room in a pool of blood by her friend inside her rural home (pictured) in a village near the town of Casoli in eastern Italy.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline after visiting him in prison, his lawyer, Massimiliano Sichetti, said: “It was the first time I had seen him and I found him tired and exhausted, but at the same time surprisingly lucid.”
“He said being in prison in Britain had not been easy, but he said he had not been treated badly and he now hoped to have the opportunity to defend himself in an Italian court.
“He is eager to give his opinion and tell the truth about what happened and that is why he did not appeal the decision to extradite him to Italy.
‘He told me that he was not fleeing Italy and wants to explain exactly what happened in court; He told me that he had a return ticket and that he was not fleeing.
“He said he will be able to explain everything fully in a diary he has kept with all the details, and that he will have the opportunity to tell his side in court.”
Prosecution documents obtained exclusively by MailOnline reveal that Whitbread had been having an affair with another British expat and that her partner had told her she would leave him and return to the UK.
Earlier this month he appeared before Westminster magistrates for a full extradition hearing.
Faiers’ three daughters cried as they heard allegations that Whitbread had stabbed their helpless mother in the back seven times at their home in Verratti, near the eastern Italian town of Casoli.
Whitebread, originally from Torquay in Devon, was wearing a red shirt, black trousers and jacket and said nothing other than confirming his name to Judge David Robinson.
According to Italian prosecutor documents, Ms Faiers had been sleeping at a friend’s house after suspecting him of an affair.
The documents also describe how Whitbread had attacked her a month before the murder, leaving her “covered in bruises” and “fearing for her life.”
This was according to the testimony of her close friend Petrina Keay, who found Ms Faiers’ lifeless body in the couple’s first-floor bedroom. covered by a sheet.
A pair of men’s underwear covered in blood was also found at the scene, according to the case file.
Police were told Mrs Faiers “doubted her partner’s fidelity” and was “thinking about leaving him and returning to England”.
Michele Faiers (pictured with partner Michael Whitbread) was found fatally stabbed in her idyllic Italian home.
Michael Whitebread (pictured) is ‘waiting to give his opinion’, according to his lawyer
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.
The police file describes the woman as 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 claims that Michele confided in Petrina about her doubts about Whitbread and was forced to sleep at her friend’s house for a week early last October after a violent fight with him that left her “covered in bruises.” “.
Petrina told detectives the “furious fight” had left Mrs Faiers “fearing for her life”.
Michele was found dead on November 1 when Petrina called after becoming concerned that she didn’t respond to messages and then found her dead in the bedroom.
Police 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 the victim was found.
His daughter is believed to have alerted police that he was at her home after reading reports of the death on MailOnline.
Neighbors described Whitbread to police as “always a little drunk”, while Michele was said to be “calm and collected”.
The day before Michele was killed, Whitbread sent a message to the partner of the woman he slapped, admitting that they “had had sex together.”
But the other man doubted the claim and responded by asking to meet Whitbread to clear things up.
Whitbread is said to have responded that “it didn’t make sense because there was nothing to clear up and that’s how it happened.”
The next day, after Michelle was stabbed to death, Whitbread sent another message retracting what she had said and then sent a similar text a day later.
Whitbread was arrested last November in Shepshed, near Loughborough, Leicestershire.
Ms Faiers was found inside her rural home in the village of Verratti, near Casoli, a town in eastern Italy.
By then police had established via CCTV at the couple’s home that Whitbread had set off in the early hours of October 29 in his Jeep Compass and had begun a 1,000-mile journey to the UK.
Traffic cameras caught him crossing from Italy into Switzerland near Lake Maggiore at 4pm that day, while his last ping on his cell phone was that same afternoon from nearby Como.
The incident has left 100 expats living in the area shocked but reluctant to speak.
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 couple’s home shows Ms Faiers returning there on October 28 after meeting Petrina, and after that the only person seen leaving or entering is Whitbread.
After her departure on October 29, the next person to appear is Petrina early on the morning of November 1 when she made the horrific 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.”
“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.”
Whitbread is due to appear by video conference tomorrow before Italian investigating judge Chiara D’Alfonso before being transferred to a prison in Lanciano, closer to where Ms Faiers died.