Convicted killer falls to death from famous cathedral, reports say
ANSA news agency and other outlets reported said the Italian man, whom they identified as Emanuele De Maria, 35, fell "dozens of meters" after reportedly throwing himself from the Gothic cathedral into the square below.
The area surrounding the Duomo, Milan's most famed landmark, is usually teeming with people but news reports did not cite any injuries among passersby.
Television images showed police blocking off the area surrounding one of the sides of the cathedral.
Authorities identified De Maria — who went on television last year to describe his life — from an ID in his pocket and his tattoos, according to several reports, including Milan's Corriere della Sera daily.
One witness, a bar owner named Emanuele Sanità, told the outlet that De Maria landed right next to a boy who was holding a stuffed animal.
"He fell next to him. He was in shock. He sat there for twenty minutes without speaking," Sanità said.
De Maria had been serving a 14-year sentence after being convicted for the 2016 murder of a woman, according to reports. He was arrested in Germany in 2018 after hiding as a fugitive in the Netherlands, Milano Today reported.
But for nearly two years he had been working part-time at a hotel near Milan's central train station.
Police had been searching for him since Friday, when he allegedly stabbed a work colleague. The condition of that man, identified as a 50-year-old Italian-Egyptian, was improving Sunday after emergency surgery on his neck and chest, Milano Today reported.
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Newsweek
7 hours ago
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Amanda Knox: I Want To Reconcile With Murdered Meredith Kercher's Family
Amanda Knox has rarely been far from the public eye, or, as she puts it, "global vilification." Convicted in 2007 of the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher in Perugia, Italy, Knox became the subject of a global media frenzy. What followed was a yearslong tabloid obsession with her—her sexual history, her high school nickname "Foxy Knoxy," and lurid prosecution theory that Kercher was killed during a Satanic sexual orgy. Knox, now 38, is reclaiming her narrative with a second autobiography released in May and a new eight-part Hulu drama series launching August 20. In a wide-ranging, no-holds-barred interview with Newsweek, Knox—who was twice convicted and twice acquitted of murder, and served nearly four years in prison—speaks candidly about her hope to reconcile with the Kercher family. She says she believes they could find her new book and TV series "healing." "I hope that they will recognize the value in my attempt at revealing the truth of what happened to Meredith in my revealing of the truth of what happened to me," she says. In this picture released on June 11, Amanda Knox is seen on the set of the television show "Cinque Minuti" at Rai Studios, on June 10, 2024 in Rome, Italy. In this picture released on June 11, Amanda Knox is seen on the set of the television show "Cinque Minuti" at Rai Studios, on June 10, 2024 in Rome, Italy. Antonio Masiello/Getty Adversary or Ally? Knox's Complicated Bond With Her Prosecutor Knox has struck up a complex friendship with Giuliano Mignini, the prosecutor in her case. He developed the unfounded theory that Kercher was killed by Knox, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and Rudy Guede, from the Ivory Coast, in a drug-fueled sex orgy gone wrong. Knox and Mignini began regular correspondence in 2019 and met up in 2022. "Some people say to me, 'Is he your friend?' 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Knox is now married to author and poet Christopher Robinson, with whom she has two children. They live in her hometown of Seattle, Washington, where she works as a writer, podcast host and criminal justice activist. She says she has reached out to the Kercher family several times over the years—but has never heard back. "That's been a really difficult part of this—I've never had any direct contact with them," she says. "I've always attempted to communicate with them....I have no confirmation that they even know that I've ever attempted to contact them." Kercher's parents, John and Arline, both died in 2020. Knox says she would love the opportunity to reconcile with Kercher's siblings. "We experienced something very traumatic together, it would be very nice and I think very healing for us to communicate about that. But when it all comes down to it, their grief is real and all-encompassing and my feelings about my own grief don't demand anything of them. I just want them to know that...I do want to reconcile with them." Knox thinks the Kercher family still believes she is withholding something about the murder. "I feel like nothing I could ever say could satisfy them as long as they think that I had something to do with Meredith's death or know something about it that I'm not telling," she says. "And like I don't know what to do or what to say other than I've already said everything that I know." Relatives of murdered British exchange student Meredith Kercher, Stephanie Kercher (R), Arline Kercher (L) and father John Kercher (C) arrive for a press conference in Perugia November 6, 2007. 21-year-old Kercher, who was found dead... Relatives of murdered British exchange student Meredith Kercher, Stephanie Kercher (R), Arline Kercher (L) and father John Kercher (C) arrive for a press conference in Perugia November 6, 2007. 21-year-old Kercher, who was found dead with her throat slit in her room in an apartment she shared with other exchange students in Perugia. More STR/AFP/Getty Knox said she had recently found the first letter she drafted to the Kercher family from jail. In the letter, she says she writes: "How I'm so sorry about everything that they have gone through and that I recognize their pain. And that that pain is never going to go away and that I want to share with you everything that I know because you deserve that from me, including all these amazing, beautiful memories that I have of your sister. And I would love to have the opportunity to grieve with you, so I'm here, waiting if you want that." 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Author and activist Amanda Knox attends the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California on April 26, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Author and activist Amanda Knox attends the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at the University of Southern California on April 26, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Amanda Edwards/Getty Now a mother-of-two herself, Knox says her mother was one of the main reasons she survived the ordeal. They would constantly exchange letters, and Knox said her mother made her know that she mattered and was loved. Unfortunately, in the years after her release from jail, Knox's mum and stepfather, who had spent long periods of time in Italy so he could visit her for one hour a week, separated. What happened to Knox "was a huge factor" in the end of that relationship, she said. "This doesn't just impact the one person who goes to prison, it impacts everyone around them," she added. Kercher's Murderer Guede, the person convicted of murdering Kercher, was released from prison in 2021 having served 13 years of a 16-year sentence. The 38-year-old was charged last month with sexual assault against an ex-girlfriend. Knox says media coverage of Guede over the years has been a drop in the ocean compared to the constant focus on her. "No one cares," she says. "I think that is so indicative of what was going on at the time and has always been going on with this case." Knox continues: "It was about the idea that she was murdered in an orgy orchestrated by her roommate. That was what people were interested in. The truth of what happened to her and the truth of the person who actually did it got completely lost for the sake of that scandalous story that sold millions of newspapers." Knox says it was pure luck that she did not return home on November 1, 2007, choosing to spend the night with Sollecito instead. She describes it as like the flipping of a coin. "I live with the legacy of this case on my shoulders, I think much more so than anyone else in the case," she says. "Much more so than the actual murderer, that's for sure. And so I recognize that I'm carrying that legacy of her as well." She adds: "I'm very aware of the fact that I get to go on with my life and have a family and have children—it's this privilege to live that was almost stolen from me and was certainly stolen from her." If you or someone you know is considering suicide, contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "988" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to Amanda Knox's book, Free, is out now. The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is on Hulu from August 20.
New York Post
20 hours ago
- New York Post
Accused NYC crypto bro kidnappers bragged about holding another foreign tourist hostage during drug-fueled Kentucky party: report
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