An Italian footballer has been sentenced to life in prison for harassing and beating his ex-girlfriend to death with a hammer, just weeks after she reported him for harassment.
Giovanni Padovani, a 28-year-old former center back who played for Sancataldese, was sentenced today to life in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Alessandra Matteuzzi, 56, in front of her home on August 23, 2022.
Alessandra was talking on the phone to her sister Stefania, who heard her screams 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 bench he had picked up. a garden near her apartment on Via Dell’Arcoveggio, in Bologna, northern Italy.
He had flown into the city to wait outside his house, after being told by his team to stay away from a training session.
He ambushed her and began beating her in a sickening attack that Stefania heard over the phone.
Giovanni Padovani, a 28-year-old former centre-back who played for Sancataldese (pictured), was sentenced today to life in prison for murdering his ex-girlfriend.
The footballer killed Alessandra Matteuzzi (pictured), 56, in front of her house in August 2022.
He tried to sabotage his car, disconnect the outside meter and even tried to climb onto his balcony.
A local resident said: “She was very afraid of him because he had become persistent and didn’t want to let him into the house.”
He previously told a local TV station: “He got out of his car and started shouting, ‘No, Giovanni, no, I’m begging you, help.'”
‘I was on the phone. “I immediately called (the police) who arrived immediately.”
While Alessandra survived the initial attack, she later died in hospital after suffering serious injuries.
The couple were together for about a year, according to local media, but spent most of their time apart as Alessandra lived in Bologna, while Padovani worked in Sicily.
Stefania claimed they had a fight in January 2022 in which he broke dishes and a light in their Bologna home.
After they broke up, Padovani bombarded her with messages and calls, and she ended up reporting him to the police for harassment.
But this did not stop him, and his neighbors previously told local media that he tried to sabotage his car, disconnect his meter from outside and even tried to climb onto his 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 beating her to death over the phone.
She reportedly screamed as she was beaten: “No, Giovanni, no, I’m begging you, help.”
A local resident said: “She was very afraid of him because he had become persistent and didn’t want to let him into the house.”
The judge of the Bologna court, Domenico Pasquariello, took only two hours today to hand down the sentence and stated that his harassing and predatory behavior, as well as the premeditated nature of the attack, were aggravating factors.
He reportedly attempted to claim that he was not in a proper state of mind at the time of the attack, telling the court: “If I were completely lucid and capable, I deserve a life sentence.” But if it is considered that there is something abnormal, anomalous, in the behavior, then no.
‘It was not right, because a person who is healthy does not kill another human being. I’m in a nightmare, I’m sorry, this is a bigger burden than prison.’
The judge of the Court of Bologna, Domenico Pasquariello, took just two hours today to hand down the sentence.
After they broke up, Padovani bombarded her with messages and calls, and she ended up reporting him to the police for harassment.
The couple reportedly fell out in January 2022, in an incident in which Padovani broke dishes and a light in their Bologna apartment.
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 get out one sentence after the hearing and burst into tears as she left the courtroom. She said: ‘Alessandra is no longer here, my sister is no longer here.’
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 that while an investigation into the harassment complaint was launched after Alessandra filed it on August 1, 2022, the investigation was stopped because the witnesses were on vacation.
“We did what we could,” he said at the time, stating that Alessandra’s harassment report did not highlight “situations of concrete risk of violence, it was simply the typical behavior of annoying harassment.”