Alessandro Cavuoto found guilty of murdering housemate by setting him on fire
A man has been found guilty of murdering his housemate by setting him on fire at their home in Adelaide's west in 2021.
Warning: This story contains content which some readers may find distressing.
Alessandro Giovanni Cavuoto was found guilty of the murder of 31-year-old Todd Bradmore in South Australia's Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The 36-year-old was also found not guilty of two aggravated counts of creating likelihood of serious harm in relation to two people who were present at the home at the time of the incident.
The trial previously heard Mr Bradmore suffered burns to 80 per cent of his body when Cavuoto doused him with "two-stroke fuel" just after 3:30am on March 17, 2021, at their Woodville West home.
He was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries on March 19, 2021.
Outside court, Mr Bradmore's father Ian Bradmore said the verdict was a "relief".
"He was always going to be guilty with the horrific way he murdered my son, burning him alive is something that is unimaginable," he said.
"He took advantage of Todd's vulnerability … took full advantage of him and decided to set him alight.
"He's nothing short of a mongrel, he deserves where he is."
In her opening statement to the court last year, then-prosecutor Lisa Dunlop SC said there was a "conflict" between the pair in the lead-up to the murder, and that Cavuoto was "angry" when he approached Mr Bradmore in the early hours of March 17.
"On the prosecution case, when the accused walked into that room with the two-stroke fuel in his hand and a lighter in his other hand, he was angry," she said.
Ms Dunlop said there had been a power outage at the home on that evening, and Mr Bradmore was holding a candle, and was surrounded by candles, when Cavuoto approached him.
"A candle ignited the vapours and Mr Bradmore caught fire immediately," she said.
"The accused, on the other hand, walked out the door in which he came, walked out the house, walked to his car, got in his car and drove away.
"On the prosecution case, your Honour will hear, when he was found by police, there was not a mark on him."
Ms Dunlop also told the court Cavuoto then went to a petrol station, where he saw his other housemate, whom he told "I just set Todd on fire".
The court heard Cavuoto then fled the state and was arrested in New South Wales, following a car accident, and extradited back to Adelaide.
Mr Bradmore said the death of his son was "inhumane" and compared it to "burning at the stake".
"You just can't imagine what he went through … it's such a bad way to go," he said.
Mr Bradmore said his son was "very kind" and would "give his heart to anybody".
The matter will return court in August for a pre-sentence hearing where the court is expected to hear numerous victim impact statements.
Cavuoto faces a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment, with a non-parole to be determined at a later date.
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